Lymphocyte subclasses and depression.

This study enumerated lymphocyte subclasses in the peripheral circulation of 15 patients with current diagnoses of major depressive disorder using monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry. Depressed patients were found to have smaller numbers of helper (T4+), suppressor (T8+), and total T cells (T11+) relative to individually matched, normal controls, but no differences occurred between groups in the ratio of helper to suppressor cells. Furthermore, the helper, suppressor, and total T cell counts were found to be inversely related to patients' self-reported depression scores. The peripheral circulation of patients with major depression seems to be characterized by proportionately equal reductions in the numbers of helper and suppressor T cells, with the magnitude of these reductions being related to the severity of clinical depression among such patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)