Low cholesterol levels are associated with depression

This study was published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 2014 Apr;36(2):129-33

Study title and authors:
A controlled study of serum lipid profiles in Indian patients with depressive episode.

Patra BN, Khandelwal SK, Chadda RK, Ramakrishnan L.
Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24860211

This study analysed the influence of cholesterol levels in depressive patients. The study included 30 depressive patients and 30 healthy matched control subjects.

The study found:
(a) The cholesterol levels of  depressive patients was 18% lower than the cholesterol levels of healthy controls.
(b) The LDL cholesterol levels of  depressive patients was 26% lower than the cholesterol levels of healthy controls.

Patra concluded: "Lower levels of serum cholesterol are associated with depressive disorder".