The objective of the present study was to assess differences in prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among depressed patients in regard to the duration of the illness (first episode versus recurrent episodes). A total of 190 patients suffering from major depressive disorder were included in the study, diagnosed according to International classification of disor- ders, 10th revision 1 . The same criteria were used to divide participants into two groups: first episode major depressive disorder and major depressive disorder with recurrent episodes. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criteria of the American National Cholesterol Education Program-Treatment Panel III 2 . Results showed that metabolic syndrome is significantly more prevalent in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder (45.2%) compared to pa- tients with first episode of major depressive disorder (27.3%), mainly due to differences in plasma glucose, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol levels. These findings indicate the importance of the duration of depression and the number of re- curring episodes as factors involved in etiopathogenesis of the associated metabolic syndrome.