University of Health Sciences, Dışkapı Training and Research Hospital, Psychiatry Department, Irfan Baştuğ Street, Altındağ, Ankara, Turkey,
Psychiatr Danub. 2021 Fall;33(3):314-319. doi: 10.24869/psyd.2021.314.
A low-grade inflammation is presumed to be related to the etiopathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily members have roles in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders because of the relationship with inflammation and neurogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the serum TNF-related weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) levels in patients with bipolar depression (BD), MDD and a healthy control (HC) group to determine any differences between MDD and BD in terms of inflammation biomarkers.
After a 12-hour overnight fast, 5 milliliter (mL) samples of fasting blood were obtained from the participants. The TWEAK and TRAIL plasma levels were calculated using ELISA kits.
The TWEAK levels were found to be higher in the BD group than in the HC group (p=0.03). No statistically significant differences were determined between the BD vs MDD and MDD vs HC groups (p=0.17, p=0.37, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences between the three groups (BD vs HC; BD vs MDD; MDD vs HC) in terms of TRAIL levels (p=0.21).
To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to have explored TWEAK levels in patients with BD. The higher TWEAK levels in BD than in the control group is compatible with the inflammation hypothesis of BD. Limitations of the study were the differences in medications of the patient groups and that it was a cross-sectional study. There is a need for further longitudinal studies with larger sample size and medication-free patients.
低度炎症被认为与重性抑郁障碍（MDD）和双相情感障碍（BD）的发病机制有关。肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）超家族成员在神经精神疾病的发病机制中具有作用，因为它们与炎症和神经发生有关。本研究旨在调查双相抑郁（BD）、MDD 和健康对照组（HC）患者的血清 TNF 相关凋亡弱诱导物（TWEAK）和 TNF 相关凋亡诱导配体（TRAIL）水平，以确定 MDD 和 BD 在炎症生物标志物方面的差异。
参与者禁食 12 小时后，抽取 5 毫升空腹血样。使用 ELISA 试剂盒计算 TWEAK 和 TRAIL 血浆水平。
BD 组的 TWEAK 水平高于 HC 组（p=0.03）。BD 与 MDD 组和 MDD 与 HC 组之间的 TWEAK 水平无统计学差异（p=0.17，p=0.37）。三组之间（BD 与 HC；BD 与 MDD；MDD 与 HC）的 TRAIL 水平无统计学差异（p=0.21）。
据我们所知，这项研究首次探讨了 BD 患者的 TWEAK 水平。BD 组 TWEAK 水平高于对照组，与 BD 的炎症假说一致。本研究的局限性在于患者组药物的差异以及这是一项横断面研究。需要进一步进行具有更大样本量和无药物治疗患者的纵向研究。
