Psychiatry Research EG

Background Depressed patients found to be at a high risk of cardiovascular attacks. The increased platlets aggregability has been hypothesized as a possible underlying mechanism for cardiovascular diseases. Abnormal platelet function has been implicated as a possible link between depression and increased cardiovascular diseases. Objective This study aimed to evaluate platelet aggregability in patients with depressive disorder. Methods 66 depressed patients and 72 age and sex matched healthy control subjects were recruited for the study. They were submitted to sociodemographic data, proper physical and thorough psychiatric evaluation, HDRS, and further investigated for thrombin and collagen induced platelet aggregability. Results Depressed patients showed statistically significant increase in platelet aggregability more than control subjects. It is found also no relation between degree of platelet aggregability and neither of sex, BMI, nor smoking in all participants. Age was found to be positively correlated with degree of platelet aggregability in all participants. Conclusion Depression was found to be associated with increase in platelet aggregability, which might be a determinant of the high risk of cardiovascular disease in depression. Keywords: cardiovascular disease, depression, platelet aggregability