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Major depression, borderline personality disorder, and visceral fat content in women

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Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with increased volumes of visceral fat and a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. In turn, affective disorders are frequently found in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). It is therefore unclear whether BPD per se may influence body composition. In order to clarify a potential relationship between BPD and body composition, we measured visceral fat content (VFC) in young depressed women with and without comorbid BPD and related this parameter to various features of the metabolic syndrome. Visceral fat content was measured by magnetic resonance imaging in 22 premenopausal women with MDD only, in 44 women with comorbid MDD and BPD, in 12 female BPD patients without MDD, and in 34 healthy women (CG). Data showed that depressed women without comorbid BPD had a 335% higher VFC and women with comorbid BPD had a 250% higher VFC than the CG women. When controlling for age, data showed significant effects of MDD on VFC (F = 8.4; P = 0.005). However, BPD, with or without MDD, was not related to VFC. Young depressed women with and without comorbid BPD display increased visceral fat content when compared to control subjects and may therefore constitute a risk group for the development of the metabolic syndrome. BPD per se is not an additive risk factor in this context.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant of the University of Luebeck (MUL 2301).

Conflict of interest

None of the authors reported potential conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany

    Wiebke Greggersen, Sebastian Rudolf, Eva Fassbinder, Fritz Hohagen, Kerstin M. Oltmanns & Ulrich Schweiger

  2. Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universität zu Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538, Luebeck, Germany

    Wiebke Greggersen

  3. Department of Radiology, University of Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany

    Beate M. Stoeckelhuber

  4. Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany

    Leif Dibbelt

  5. Department for Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

    Kai G. Kahl

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  1. Wiebke Greggersen
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  2. Sebastian Rudolf
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Correspondence to Wiebke Greggersen.

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Greggersen, W., Rudolf, S., Fassbinder, E. et al. Major depression, borderline personality disorder, and visceral fat content in women. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 261, 551–557 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-011-0194-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-011-0194-6

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