High levels of glucose, triglycerides linked to psychiatric disorders, study says

High levels of glucose and triglycerides are associated with future risk for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, according to a study published online April 2 in JAMA Network Open.

Charilaos Chourpiliadis, M.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues conducted a population-based cohort study with longitudinal data collection involving 211,200 participants from the Apolipoprotein-Related Mortality Risk cohort who underwent occupational health screening to examine whether biomarkers of carbohydrate, lipid, and apolipoprotein metabolism are associated with the risk for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders.

The researchers found that 16,256 individuals were diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders during a mean follow-up of 21.0 years. High levels of glucose and triglycerides were associated with an increased subsequent risk for all tested psychiatric disorders (hazard ratios, 1.30 and 1.15, respectively), while a reduced risk was seen in association with high levels of high-density lipoprotein (hazard ratio, 0.88). Similar results were seen for male and female participants and for all tested disorders.

During the 20 years preceding diagnosis, patients with depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders had higher levels of glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol; during the 10 years preceding diagnosis, higher levels of apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein B were seen compared with controls.

"These results add further evidence of the association between cardiometabolic health and psychiatric disorders and potentially advocate for a closer follow-up of individuals with metabolic dysregulations for prevention and early diagnosis of psychiatric disorders," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.