Second Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province 030000, China; Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology at Shanxi Medical University, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China.
School of Humanities and Social Science, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province 030000, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Aug 5;471:115098. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115098. Epub 2024 Jun 11.
Depression can impact the severity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Th1, Th2, Th17, Treg cell subsets, and their associated cytokines (e.g., IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-γ, and TNF-α), and the occurrence of RA both with and without comorbid depression. The objective is to identify potential biological markers, therapeutic targets, and the therapeutic effects of RA with comorbid depression.
53 RA patients,46 RA with comorbid depression patients and 51 healthy subjects were included in the RA,RD and HC group from August 2021 and October 2022. Among RA patients, 46.46 % were comorbid with depression. IL-6 concentrations were significantly higher in RD group than in RA group.Comparison between the HC and RA and RD groups revealed that Th1 %, Th17 %, Th1, Th17, Th1/Th2, Th17/Treg and Th1/Treg were significantly higher in the RA and RD groups, and conversely, Th2 %, Treg%, Th2 and Treg were significantly lower than in the HC group.The RA group compared to the RD group found that Th17 %, Th17 and Th17/Treg were significantly higher in the RD group than in the RA group, however, Th1 %, Treg and Th2/Treg were significantly lower than in the RA group. The total HAMD score had a medium strength positive correlation with IL-6.
These findings suggest that elevated the autoimmunity status was overactivated in RA with or without depression activates patients, IL-6 may be a predictor of the severity of RA with comorbid depression, IL-6 concentrations and an imbalance in the Th17/Treg may underlie the comorbidity of RA and depression, offering potential targets for therapeutic intervention, prompting further evaluation of the role of indirect inflammatory markers in RA with comorbid depression, highlighting the need for additional research to clarify the complex relationship between inflammation and psychological health.
抑郁症可影响类风湿关节炎（RA）的严重程度。本研究旨在探讨 Th1、Th2、Th17、Treg 细胞亚群及其相关细胞因子（如 IL-2、IL-4、IL-6、IL-10、IL-17、IFN-γ 和 TNF-α）与 RA 及其伴发抑郁之间的关系。目的在于寻找潜在的生物学标志物、治疗靶点以及治疗伴发抑郁的 RA 的疗效。
2021 年 8 月至 2022 年 10 月，共纳入 53 例 RA 患者、46 例伴发抑郁的 RA 患者和 51 例健康对照者，分别归入 RA、RD 和 HC 组。RA 患者中，46.46%伴发抑郁。RD 组的 IL-6 浓度明显高于 RA 组。与 HC 组和 RA 组相比，RD 组的 Th1%、Th17%、Th1、Th17、Th1/Th2、Th17/Treg 和 Th1/Treg 明显更高，而 Th2%、Treg%、Th2 和 Treg 明显更低。与 RD 组相比，RA 组的 Th17%、Th17 和 Th17/Treg 明显更高，而 Th1%、Treg 和 Th2/Treg 明显更低。总 HAMD 评分与 IL-6 呈中强度正相关。
这些发现表明，在伴或不伴抑郁的 RA 患者中，自身免疫状态过度激活，IL-6 可能是伴发抑郁的 RA 严重程度的预测因子，IL-6 浓度和 Th17/Treg 失衡可能是 RA 伴发抑郁的基础，为治疗干预提供了潜在靶点，进一步提示需要评估间接炎症标志物在伴发抑郁的 RA 中的作用，强调需要进一步研究以阐明炎症与心理健康之间的复杂关系。
