RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 TNF-α, IL-6 and hsCRP in patients with melancholic, atypical and anxious depression: an antibody array analysis related to somatic symptoms
JF General Psychiatry
JO Gen Psych
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e100844
DO 10.1136/gpsych-2022-100844
VO 35
IS 4
A1 Hongmei Liu
A1 Xiaohui Wu
A1 Yun Wang
A1 Xiaohua Liu
A1 Daihui Peng
A1 Yan Wu
A1 Jun Chen
A1 Yun'ai Su
A1 Jia Xu
A1 Xiancang Ma
A1 Yi Li
A1 Jianfei Shi
A1 Xiaodong Yang
A1 Han Rong
A1 Marta Di Forti
A1 Yiru Fang
YR 2022
UL http://gpsych.bmj.com/content/35/4/e100844.abstract
AB Background The association between inflammation and major depressive disorder (MDD) remains poorly understood, given the heterogeneity of patients with MDD.Aims We investigated inflammatory markers, such as interleukin (IL)-6, high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in melancholic, atypical and anxious depression and explored whether baseline inflammatory protein levels could indicate prognosis.Methods The sample consisted of participants (aged 18–55 years) from a previously reported multicentre randomised controlled trial with a parallel-group design registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, including melancholic (n=44), atypical (n=37) and anxious (n=44) patients with depression and healthy controls (HCs) (n=33). Subtypes of MDD were classified according to the 30-item Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Self-Rated Version and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Blood levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and hsCRP were assessed using antibody array analysis.Results Patients with MDD, classified according to melancholic, atypical and anxious depression subtypes, and HCs did not differ significantly in baseline TNF-α, IL-6 and hsCRP levels after adjustment. In patients with anxious depression, hsCRP levels increased significantly if they experienced no pain (adjusted (adj.) p=0.010) or mild to moderate pain (adj. p=0.038) compared with those with severe pain. However, the patients with anxious depression and severe pain showed a lower trend in hsCRP levels than patients with atypical depression who experienced severe pain (p=0.022; adj. p=0.155). Baseline TNF-α (adj. p=0.038) and IL-6 (adj. p=0.006) levels in patients in remission were significantly lower than those in patients with no remission among the participants with the atypical depression subtype at the eighth-week follow-up.Conclusions This study provides evidence of differences in inflammatory proteins in patients with varied symptoms among melancholic, atypical and anxious depression subtypes. Further studies on the immunoinflammatory mechanism underlying different subtypes of depression are expected for improved individualised therapy.Trial registration number NCT03219008.No data are available.