Background

Cytokines are involved in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment response. Efforts have been made to identify inflammatory markers but results are often contradictory. The present study explored the plasma levels of multiple cytokines in first-episode MDD using a longitudinal design, with the aim to determine the involvement of cytokines in depression and identify the inflammatory markers.

Method

Fifty-four first-episode drug naïve MDD patients and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) was administered and blood samples were collected at baseline and four-week posttreatment in MDD group, while blood samples were only collected once in HC group. Plasma levels of nineteen cytokines were examined by a multiplexed flow cytometric assay.

Results

Sixteen out of 19 cytokines levels in MDD group were significantly higher than those in HC group (all P < 0.05). After 4-week of antidepressant treatment, levels of the 14 cytokines elevated at baseline decreased to normal levels (all P < 0.05). Partial correlation showed that baseline level of interferon-inducible T cell alpha chemoattractant (ITAC) was negatively correlated with reduction in HAMD-17 score (r=−0.319, p=0.020), and multiple regression showed lower baseline ITAC level was associated with better treatment response (p = 0.020).

Limitation

The sample size was relatively small.

Conclusion

A range of cytokines were abnormal in patients with first-episode drug naïve MDD and most of the cytokines could be normalized after antidepressant treatment. Furthermore, baseline ITAC level could be a predictive factor of antidepressant response.

中文翻译：

---

首发重大抑郁症患者血浆细胞因子水平与抗抑郁反应的关系

背景

细胞因子参与了重度抑郁症（MDD）的病理生理和治疗反应。已经做出努力来鉴定炎性标志物，但是结果常常是矛盾的。本研究使用纵向设计探索了首发MDD中多种细胞因子的血浆水平，目的是确定抑郁症中细胞因子的参与并确定炎症标志物。

方法

这项研究共纳入了54名初次接受药物治疗的MDD初患患者和60名健康对照（HCs）。给予17个项目的汉密尔顿抑郁评定量表（HAMD-17），MDD组在基线和治疗后四周收集血液样本，而HC组仅收集一次血液样本。通过多重流式细胞术检测19种细胞因子的血浆水平。

结果

MDD组的19种细胞因子中有16种显着高于HC组（所有P <0.05）。抗抑郁药治疗4周后，基线时升高的14种细胞因子的水平降至正常水平（所有P <0.05）。部分相关性表明，干扰素诱导性T细胞α化学引诱剂（ITAC）的基线水平与HAMD-17得分的降低呈负相关（r = -0.319，p = 0.020），多元回归表明较低的基线ITAC水平与更好的相关性治疗反应（p = 0.020）。

局限性

样本量相对较小。

结论

初次使用MDD的患者中一系列细胞因子异常，抗抑郁药治疗后大多数细胞因子可恢复正常。此外，基线ITAC水平可能是抗抑郁反应的预测因素。