Serum lipid concentrations in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with and without panic attacks.

OBJECTIVE To examine serum lipid levels in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to test whether panic symptoms affect lipid concentrations in OCD patients. METHODS We assessed 33 OCD patients and 33 healthy control subjects matched for sex and age. RESULTS OCD patients had higher low-density lipoprotein, very-low-density lipoprotein, and tryglyceride levels, but lower high-density lipoprotein levels, than normal control subjects. We also found that only OCD patients with panic attacks had higher serum lipid concentrations, compared with normal control subjects. Serum lipid levels of pure OCD patients did not differ from control values. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that high serum lipid concentrations are related to panic anxiety rather than other symptoms of the illness.