Comparison of nitric oxide level in Behcet's disease patients with or without psychiatric comorbidity.

Both Behcet's disease (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are diseases associated with nitric oxide (NO). We hypothesized that the comorbidity of MDD affects the levels of NO in BD. In this study, we investigate whether there was a difference in NO levels among BD patients with accompanying MDD, BD patients with no depressive symptoms and healthy control group. There was a significant difference in NO levels among BD and control group (P < 0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the BD group with MDD and BD group without psychiatric comorbidity in terms of NO levels (P < 0.05). This study is interesting as it demonstrates that accompanying psychiatric comorbidity puts an additional NO burden on the shoulders of BD patients.