Zinc in drug-naïve patients with short-illness-duration first episode major depressive disorder: impact on psychopathological features.

OBJECTIVE: In major depressive disorder (MDD) hypozincaemia associated with symptoms severity, melancholia, anxiety and treatment-resistance is reported. Data linking zinc with specific psychopathological dimensions is limited. METHODS: Plasma zinc was analyzed in this cross-sectional case-control study on 20 non-late-life adult, treatment-naïve MDD patients with short-illness-duration first affective episode and 20 matched healthy controls together with psychometric evaluations including Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17) and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS: No significant difference in zinc levels was found between MDD subjects and controls. No significant correlations were observed between zinc concentration and the total HAMD-17 score as well as with the specific core depression, insomnia, anxiety and somatic psychopathological dimensions or STAIX-1 and STAIX-2 scores. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence for unchanged plasma zinc concentration at early stage of MDD and failed to demonstrate any correlation between plasma zinc and psychopathological features including severity of symptoms and specific psychopathological dimensions in MDD.