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Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry logoLink to Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry
. 2008 Mar 6;23(1):76–80. doi: 10.1007/s12291-008-0018-2

Serum cortisol, immunoglobulins and some complements among depressed patients

Hussein Kadhem Al-Hakeim 1,✉
PMCID: PMC3453661  PMID: 23105726

Abstract

Psychiatric disorders especially depression are associated with a variety of changes in immunity parameters. In this work, an attempt was carried out to make estimation about the correlation between immunity and depression through the measuring of IgG, IgA, and IgM and complements (C3 and C4) levels in the serum of patients and comparing them with the corresponding levels of healthy control group. The results showed a significant increase in serum level of C3, C4, cortisol, IgG and no significant differences were noticed in the level of IgA and IgM in the depressed patients group as compared with control group. A slight positive correlation was observed between cortisol versus IgG in depressed patients that is not found in normal subjects. Thus in depression, human body defenses psychologically and sometimes this defense transformed into immunological resistance that is expressed as different measurable changes in immunological parameters.

Key Words: Depression, Immunoglobulin, Complements, Cortisol

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