Baek, Ji HyunKim, Hee-JinFava, MaurizioMischoulon, DavidPapakostas, GeorgeNierenberg, AndrewHeo, Jung-YoonJeon, Hong Jin2016-06-142016Baek, Ji Hyun, Hee-Jin Kim, Maurizio Fava, David Mischoulon, George I Papakostas, Andrew Nierenberg, Jung-Yoon Heo, and Hong Jin Jeon. 2016. “Reduced Venous Blood Basophil Count and Anxious Depression in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder.” Psychiatry Investigation 13 (3): 321-326. doi:10.4306/pi.2016.13.3.321. http://dx.doi.org/10.4306/pi.2016.13.3.321.1738-3684http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:27320448Objective: Anxious depression has a distinct neurobiology, clinical course and treatment response from non-anxious depression. Role of inflammation in anxious depression has not been examined. As an exploratory study to characterize the role of inflammation on a development of anxious depression, we aimed to determine the relationship between white blood cell (WBC) subset counts and anxiety in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: A total of 709 patients who were newly diagnosed with MDD were recruited. Anxiety levels of participants were evaluated using the Anxiety/ Somatization subitem of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The association between WBC subset fraction and anxiety was evaluated. Results: Basophil and eosinophil sub-fractions showed significant negative correlations with HAM-D anxiety/somatization factor scores (basophils: r=-0.092, p=0.014 and eosinophils: r=-0.075, p=0.046). When an anxiety score (a sum of somatic and psychic anxiety) was entered as a dependent variable, only basophils showed significant negative association with the anxiety scores after adjusting for all other WBC subset counts and demographic factors (t=-2.57, p=0.010). Conclusion: This study showed that anxious depression had a decreased basophil subfraction, which might be associated with involvement of inflammation in development of anxious depression.en-USAnxious depressionBasophilInflammationJournal Article2016-06-1410.4306/pi.2016.13.3.321