<p><p><p><p><p> The world health organization (WHO) predicts that depression would be the second greatest cause of premature death </p> <div>and disability by the year 2020. A gender difference in depression, with a twofold greater prevalence of depression </div> <div>occurring in women than in men is demonstrated. The role of reproductive hormone is found in modulating depression. </div> <div>This study was carried out with the aims and objectives to study</div> <div>1. The levels of FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone in depressive women. </div> <div>2. The level of total cholesterol in depressive women as compared to their non–depressive counterparts</div> <div>Materials & Methods: This was a case control study. We included 25 women suffering from depression as cases and 25 non depressions as </div> <div>controls. We used DSM–IV criteria for diagnosis of depression and 17 point Hamilton rating scale for severity of depression. Estimation of FSH, </div> <div>LH, estrogen and progesterone was done by using ELISA test during follicular and luteal phase of menstrual cycle. Student t–test was used for </div> <div>statistical analysis</div> <div>Result: Hamilton scoring revealed mean score for group A as 20.08±4.7 (36% moderate & 46% severe depression) and group B as 2.12 ± 1.76 ( </div> <div>no depression). We found that the level of estradiol was significantly lower in the depressed women both in follicular phase (p<0.001) and in </div> <div>the luteal phase (p<0.037) while the difference in FSH, LH and progesterone was not significant in both the group. The level of cholesterol was </div> <div>decreased in depressive women but this reduction was not significant (p=0.07).</div> <div>Conclusion: There is an association with depression in women and decrease in estradiol level</div></p></p></p></p>