Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh.
Department of Pharmacy, University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 18;14(1):1652. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-51932-9.
Recently, scientists have focused on pro-inflammatory cytokines and immunological dysregulation in major depressive disorder (MDD). Some research suggests pro-inflammatory cytokines' role in MDD development, whereas anti-inflammatory studies are sparse. There is no systematic investigation of Bangladeshi MDD patients' pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. This study examines the blood levels of IL-12 and IL-4 in Bangladeshi patients and healthy controls (HCs) to determine the diagnostic accuracy of these cytokines to identify MDD patients from those without MDD. A total of 110 people with MDD from the department of psychiatry of a teaching hospital in Dhaka and 107 HCs from Dhaka participated in this case-control study. Depression and illness severity were gauged using DSM-5 criteria and Ham-D scores. Commercially marketed ELISA kits were used in accordance with manufacturer guidelines to measure the levels of IL-12 and IL-4 in peripheral blood, allowing a comparison of the patient and control groups. In comparison to HCs, MDD patients (5333.00 ± 307.40 pg/ml) showed noticeably higher levels of IL-12 than in HCs (2331.00 ± 207.40 pg/ml). The increased levels were positively correlated with Ham-D scores (male: r = 0.351, p < 0.050; female: r = 0.389, p < 0.050), suggesting a possible relationship to disease progression. Additionally, compared to HCs (272.81 ± 23.94 pg/ml), MDD patients had significantly higher peripheral blood levels of IL-4 (876.35 ± 66.73 pg/ml) (p < 0.001). Also, there was a positive correlation between IL-4 serum levels and Ham-D scores (male: r = 0.361, p < 0.050; female: r = 0.398, p < 0.050). Therefore, we observed increased levels of these serum cytokines and their association with the severity of depression. The results of this study demonstrate the possibility of IL-12 and IL-4 blood levels as distinct markers capable of differentiating between MDD patients and HCs, possibly acting as markers of MDD susceptibility. To ascertain the diagnostic effectiveness of these two cytokines, more research is necessary.
最近，科学家们专注于促炎细胞因子和免疫失调在重度抑郁症（MDD）中的作用。一些研究表明促炎细胞因子在 MDD 发展中的作用，而抗炎研究则很少。目前还没有系统地研究孟加拉国 MDD 患者的促炎和抗炎细胞因子。本研究检测了孟加拉国 MDD 患者和健康对照者（HCs）的血液中 IL-12 和 IL-4 的水平，以确定这些细胞因子识别 MDD 患者与非 MDD 患者的诊断准确性。共有 110 名来自达卡一所教学医院精神科的 MDD 患者和 107 名 HCs 参加了这项病例对照研究。使用 DSM-5 标准和 Ham-D 评分评估抑郁和疾病严重程度。根据制造商的指南，使用商业上可获得的 ELISA 试剂盒测量外周血中 IL-12 和 IL-4 的水平，以便对患者组和对照组进行比较。与 HCs 相比，MDD 患者（5333.00±307.40pg/ml）的 IL-12 水平明显高于 HCs（2331.00±207.40pg/ml）。升高的水平与 Ham-D 评分呈正相关（男性：r=0.351，p<0.050；女性：r=0.389，p<0.050），提示可能与疾病进展有关。此外，与 HCs（272.81±23.94pg/ml）相比，MDD 患者外周血中 IL-4 的水平显著升高（876.35±66.73pg/ml）（p<0.001）。此外，IL-4 血清水平与 Ham-D 评分呈正相关（男性：r=0.361，p<0.050；女性：r=0.398，p<0.050）。因此，我们观察到这些血清细胞因子水平升高，并与抑郁严重程度相关。这项研究的结果表明，IL-12 和 IL-4 血液水平作为区分 MDD 患者和 HCs 的独特标志物具有可能性，可能作为 MDD 易感性的标志物。为了确定这两种细胞因子的诊断效果，需要进行更多的研究。
