A Preliminary Study on the Relationship between Platelet Serotonin Transporter Functionality, Depression, and Fatigue in Patients with Untreated Chronic Hepatitis C

Table 3

Comparison of serotonin levels in platelets of healthy control subjects and patients with chronic HCV.

	𝑛	Mean (SD)	95% CI (mean)	𝑡-test versus control group	Effect size (𝑑)	95% CI (𝑑)
Control group	65	412 (125)	381–443
Patients total	64	470 (189)	423–518	𝑡108.92=2.050,  𝑃=0.043	0.362	0.014–0.709
Patients (BDI≤10)	49	453 (187)	399–507	n.s. (𝑃=0.187)	0.240	−0.052–0.533
Patients (BDI>10)	15*	585 (302)	424–746	𝑡16.79=2.164, 𝑃=0.045	1.012	0.429–1.595
Patients with major/minor depression	11*	608 (228)	435–709	𝑡11.34=2.585, 𝑃=0.025	1.367	0.693–2.043

Note: the standardized mean-difference effect size (𝑑) was computed from means and standard deviations; platelet-5HT levels are expressed in ng/10⁹ plts.
*Without the extremely high value (outlier) of 1425 ng/10⁹ plts.