Lower serum albumin levels in patients with mood disorders.

BACKGROUND Some physicians have reported lower serum albumin levels in patients with major depression in Western countries. In this study, the relationship between serum albumin levels and mood disorders (including mania and major depression) was investigated during the acute phases in Taiwanese psychiatric inpatients. METHODS A review of medical charts during a 1-year period was carried out in a population of 213 Taiwanese psychiatric inpatients that included 61 patients with mood disorders (with or without suicide attempts). The collected data included age, body weight, height, serum albumin levels, and routine blood biochemistry examination results. These data were compared with data from a healthy control group (N = 32) drawn from the staff of the psychiatric ward. Statistical analysis was done using covariance after age adjustment. RESULTS The mean serum albumin levels were 40.2 +/- 4.0 g/L in patients with mania (N = 25), 39.8 +/- 2.8 g/L in patients with major depression (N = 36), and 45.8 +/- 2.0 g/L in the control group. Patients with mania (F = 64.6, p = 0.000) and major depression (F = 68.9, p = 0.000), respectively, had significantly lower albumin levels than the control group after age adjustment. However, for the patients with major depression, no significant difference in serum albumin levels were found between patients who had attempted suicide and those who had not. CONCLUSION Lower serum albumin levels were noted during the acute phases of mania and major depression in Taiwanese psychiatric inpatients.