Relação entre estabilidade de membrana de eritrócitos, variáveis hematológicas, bioquímicas, função cognitiva e depressão em idosos institucionalizados

Abstract

Introduction: Aging is a complex multifactorial process associated with numerous degenerative changes in structure and behavior of biological membranes. The erythrocyte membrane stability is defined as the membrane's ability to maintain its structure in adverse situations. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between erythrocytes membrane stability, cognitive function and depression in institutionalized elderly. Methods: A population of 69 institutionalized elderly was investigated with regard to the osmotic stability of their erythrocyte membrane, erythrogram, lipid profile, cognition and depression. Results: Values of the hematological and biochemical variables are within their respective reference ranges. The existence of scores of GDS-15 suggestive of depression was much higher in females (83.7%) than in males (53.6%), which is a common trend in the epidemiology of depression among the elderly. The GDS scores were associated with increased erythrocyte membrane stability, platelet count and levels of total and LDL-cholesterol. The erythrocyte membrane stability also presented a positive relationship with the LDL-cholesterol levels and was not related to cognitive function. Conclusion: Depression in the elderly population of this study was associated with increases in the erythrocytes membrane stability and platelets counts, possibly because of the elevation in blood cholesterol levels. Moreover, the cognitive status was not significantly correlated with erythrocyte membrane stability.