Cerebrospinal fluid IL-8 levels reflect symptoms of alexithymia in patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders.

Several recent findings indicate that various interactions between nervous and immune system are important in the pathophysiology of alexithymia. These findings show that a significant role in developing alexithymia may play proinflammatory cytokines. Recent data also indicate that negative emotions related to depressive symptoms and anxiety are related to disturbed levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8). These findings suggest that IL-8 could present also useful immunological marker related to emotional dysregulation in alexithymia. In the present study we have performed psychometric measurement of alexithymia (TAS-20), depression (BDI-II) and anxiety (SAS), and immunochemical measure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum levels of IL-8 in 33 inpatients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders (NIND) (mean age 38.8±12.5). The results show that IL-8 in CSF is significantly correlated with TAS-20 (Spearman R=0.46, p=0.007) and SAS (Spearman R=0.44, p=0.009) but not to BDI-II. The findings of the present study indicate that increased level of IL-8 (in CSF) may be related to symptoms of alexithymia and anxiety in patients with NIND.