BACKGROUND: There is a possible association depressive symptoms (DS) and metabolic syndrome (MS), to the extent that treating one condition improves the other. AIM: To estimate the association between MS and DS among the employees of a medical school. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cross sectional study of 159 people aged 41+/-11 years (88 men). MS was evaluated according to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)/Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III) and ATP-IIIa criteria and the