Lab Med. 2017 Dec 11. doi: 10.1093/labmed/lmx064. [Epub ahead of print]
Serum Levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and TGF-β in Chronic HBV-Infected Patients: Effect of Depression and Anxiety.Bahramabadi R1,2, Fathollahi MS1,3, Hashemi SM4, Arababadi AS1, Arababadi MS1, Yousefi-Daredor H1, Bidaki R5,6, Khaleghinia M7, Bakhshi MH1, Yousefpoor Y4, Torbaghan YE4, Arababadi MK1,2. Author information 1Immunology of Infectious Diseases Research Center.2Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine.3Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Medical School, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.4Khalil Abad Health Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.5Research Center of Addiction and Behavioral Sciences.6Diabetes Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Science, Yazd, Iran.7Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
AbstractObjective: To assess the effects of depression and anxiety on serum cytokine levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 60 healthy control individuals and 60 patients with CHB participated after filling out standard questionnaires. We examined their serum interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and TGF-β levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques.
Results: In patients with CHB compared with healthy controls, serum levels of IL-8 were significantly increased, whereas IL-6 and TGF-β levels were significantly decreased. Serum levels of TGF-β were significantly decreased in the patients with CHB who had mild depression, compared with patients with CHB without depression and with moderate and severe depression.
Conclusions: Downregulation of IL-8 and TGF-β, respectively, is a corresponding mechanism for induction of chronic inflammation in patients with CHB. Depression also seems to induce inflammation via downregulation of TGF-β in these patients.