[Relationship between oxidative stress and depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]

To investigate the relationship between oxidative stress and depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

In the study, 129 patients with RA were assessed using the Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD), Zung self-rating depression scale (SDS), Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90), and other multiple item questionnaires. Oxidative-stress-related parameters in sera and indexes of oxidative damage were monitored during a pretreatment period. The patients were divided into depression (group A, HAMD≥20) and nondepression groups (group B,HAMD<20) based on an HAMD score cutoff of 20. In addition, 20 healthy donors were classified as group C.

A statistically significant increase in SDS score was observed in group A (59.12±10.18) when compared with group B (39.24±5.02) (t=0.42,P < 0.01). A statistically significant increase was observed in SAS score in group A (59.12±10.18) in comparison with group B (39.24±5.02) (t=1.48,P<0.01). Antisuperoxide anion capacity was significantly decreased in group A (393.76±43.35) in comparison with group B (456.98±93.86) and group C (483.51±30.64) (F=3.95, P=0.03), whereas serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of group A (13.84±3.35) were higher than those of group B (9.42±3.52) and group C (7.86±3.21)(F=12.01, P=0.01). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that depression was positively correlated with MDA (r=0.58,P<0.05), but negatively with A-ASC (r =-0.30, P<0.05).

The oxidative damage occurs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and lower antioxidant defences exist in depressive patients. The oxidative stress may promote the development of depression.