Depressive symptoms in older people with metabolic syndrome: is there a relationship with inflammation?

Results: One hundred thirty-three subjects were enrolled. MetS patients (57) exhibited higher prevalence of depressive symptoms (p<0.0001), worse cognitive function (p<0.0001), and higher levels of ESR and hsCRP were higher (p<0.0001). The univariate analysis showed a linear strong correlation of depressive symptoms (p<0.0001) with the MMSE score (r=0.422), body mass index (r=0.414), MetS (r=0.582), number of MetS components (r=0.663), fasting blood glucose (r=0.565), ESR (r=0.565), hsCRP (r=0.745), central obesity (r=0.269; p=0.002), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=0.241; p=0.005). However, the multivariate analysis showed that only age (B=0.093; p=0.032), MetS (B=1.446; p=0.025), fasting blood glucose (B=0.039; p=0.005), and hsCRP (B=7.649; p<0.0001) were independently associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusions: MetS and inflammation are independently associated with depressive symptoms in older people. Inflammation may explain cognitive decline too. Further investigations are needed to better understand the direction of these associations and to determine whether these can be reversible. Copyright # 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.