Lowered Zinc and Copper Levels in Drug-Naïve patients with Major Depression: Effects of Antidepressants, Ketoprofen and Immune Activation

AbstractObjectives: The aim of the present work is to examine the effects of treatment with sertraline with and without ketoprofen on serum levels of zinc and copper in association with immune-inflammatory biomarkers in drug-naive major depressed patients.Methods: We measured serum zinc and copper, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-18, interferon-γ, and transforming growth factor-β1 in 40 controls and 133 depressed patients. The clinical efficacy of the treatment was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) at baseline and 8 weeks later.Results: We found significantly reduced serum zinc and copper in association with upregulation of all cytokines, indicating activation of the immune-inflammatory responses system (IRS) and the compensatory immune regulatory system (CIRS). Treatment with sertraline significantly increased zinc and decreased copper. During treatment, there was a significant inverse association between serum zinc and immune activation. The improvement in the BDI-II during tr...