Serum Lipid Concentrations in Iranian Veterans with Combat-Related Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Several studies demonstrated changes in serum lipid concentrations in chronic post traumaticstress disorder (cptsd) patients. the purpose of this study was to assess serum lipid concentrations in soldierswith cptsd and compare it with chronic major depressive disorder (cmdd) patients.methods: we measured serum lipid concentrations in patients with cptsd (n=40) and cmdd (n=40) andcompared the results. the patients were all male (30-48 years old) and had an illness history of more than 2 yearsprior to conducting the study. the groups were matched regarding their body mass index (bmi) and duration ofsymptoms. laboratory investigations and psychiatric evaluations were carried-out 5 days after admission. serumlipid concentrations were measured by enzyme assay (ea).results: cptsd group showed significantly greater mean cholesterol concentrations (227.3 ± 69.7 mg/dl)than the cmdd group (190.7 ± 35.4 mg/dl) (p=0.004). mean high density lipoprotein cholesterol (hdl-c)concentrations for cptsd patients (66.6 ± 17.6 mg/dl) was significantly lower than hdl-c level in cmddpatients (76.5 ± 19.7 mg/dl) (p= 0.02). in contrast, mean low density lipoprotein cholesterol (ldl-c)concentrations for cptsd patients (118.9 ± 60.1 mg/dl) was significantly higher than ldl-c level in cmddpatients (76.5 ± 25.2 mg/dl) (p= 0.000). although similar differences was noticed on triglycerides concentration(cptsd; 220.2 ± 79.0 and cmdd; 201.0 ± 61.8), it was statistically non-significant (p= 0.23).conclusion: our findings suggest that cptsd patients are at high risk of developing arteriosclerosis andvascular incident secondary to low levels of hdl-c and high levels of ldl-c.iranian journal of psychiatry and behavioral sciences (ijpbs), volume 1, number 1, spring and summer 2007: 22-26.