Thyroid dysfunction common in young, first-episode and drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder

In the study, the prevalence of TD in young FEDN MDD patients was 64.86%. The researchers, therefore, suggested that clinicians should monitor thyroid function in patients with major depressive disorder.

"The factors that were independently associated with thyroid dysfunction in young FEDN MDD patients include higher total cholesterol (TC), fasting blood glucose (FBG), body mass index (BMI), low HDL cholesterol levels, and long-term disease duration," the researchers reported. "Therefore targeting these factors in patients with major depressive disorder may help to reduce thyroid dysfunction in young FEDN patients."

According to the authors, this is the first study to determine the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and associated factors in young FEDN MDD patients.

There has been a general increase in the incidence of thyroid dysfunction and major depressive disorder, year by year in the general population. However, there has been no research on the prevalence and correlates of thyroid dysfunction in first-episode drug-naive MDD patients. Jinbo Wu, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, and colleagues aimed to fill this gap and examine the association between thyroid dysfunction and major depressive disorder.

For this purpose, the researchers recruited 1,289 FEDN MDD outpatients ages 18 ~ 45 years. For each patient, they collected demographical and suicide data and measured fasting blood glucose levels, thyroid function, and lipid profiles. The Hamilton Depression Scale 17 (HAMD-17) was evaluated for depression.

The researchers reported the following findings:

• The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in young FEDN MDD patients was 64.86%.
• Compared with those without thyroid dysfunction, patients with TD had a longer duration of illness, greater HAMD score, higher TG, BMI, TC, and LDL-C levels, and higher suicide attempt rates, but lower HDL cholesterol and FBG levels.
• Further logistic regression indicated that duration of illness, HAMD score, TC, HDL-C, BMI, and FBG levels were significantly associated with TD.

The main limitation of the study was that researchers could not draw a causal relationship due to the cross-sectional design.

"Thyroid dysfunction is common in young first-episode drug-naive major depressive disorder patients," the researchers wrote. "So clinicians should monitor thyroid function in patients with MDD."

"Longitudinal studies with large sample sizes are required to further elucidate the relationship between sex-specific factors and TD in MDD patients," they concluded.

Reference:

Wu, J., Wang, Z., Xu, H., Yang, L., Liu, J., Zheng, Y., Kang, C., Wang, X., Shi, J., Zhao, N., & Zhang, X. Y. (2023). Thyroid dysfunction in young, first-episode and drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder: Prevalence and associated clinical factors. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1156481. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1156481