Autonomic nervous system and lipid metabolism: findings in anxious-depressive spectrum and eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: To correlate lipid metabolism and autonomic dysfunction with anxious-depressive spectrum and eating disorders. To propose the lipid index (LI) as a new possible biomarker. METHODS: 95 patients and 60 controls were enrolled from the University Psychiatry Unit of Catania and from general practitioners (GPs). The patients were divided into four pathological groups: Anxiety, Depression, Anxious-Depressive Disorder and Eating Disorders [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) official/appendix criteria]. The levels of the cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoproteins A and B were determined. The LI, for each subject, was obtained through a mathematical operation on the values of the cholesterol and triglycerides levels compared with the maximum cut-off of the general population. The autonomic functioning was tested with Ewing battery tests. Particularly, the correlation between heart rate variability (HRV) and lipid metabolism has been investigated. RESULTS: Pathological and control groups, compared among each other, presented some peculiarities in the lipid metabolism and the autonomic dysfunction scores. In addition, a statistically significant correlation has been found between HRV and lipid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Lipid metabolism and autonomic functioning seem to be related to the discussed psychiatric disorders. LI, in addition, could represent a new possible biomarker to be considered.