Levels of interlukin-2, interlukin-6 and its soluble receptors in the first episode depression of Uygur patients before and after treatment with venlafaxine / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the action of interlukin-2(IL-2),interlukin-6(IL-6) and its soluble receptors (sIL-2R,sIL-6R) in the first episode of depression in the patients of Uyghur nationality and the differences in IL-2,IL-6 and sIL-2R,sIL-6R levels between the responsive depressed patients and the refractory depressed patients treated with venlafaxine.Methods A case-control study design was conducted.57 first-episode patients with depression (patient group) and 55 healthy people matched with gender and age (control group) were recruited in the study.An intervention with sustained-releasing venlafaxine tablets at fixed dose of 150 mg/d was performed in the patient group.The severity of the illness was evaluated by using the Hamilton's depression scale (HAMD-17) before and after the therapy.And by calculating the reduction rate of HAMD-17 (≥ 50％ or ＜50％),the patients were divided into the responsive or refractory groups.The serum levels of IL-2,IL-6,sIL-2R and sIL-6R in patients and controls were tested by ELISA,and a re-test was done with the patients after treatment.Results There were statistical significant differences of the levels of serum IL-2,IL-6 and sIL-2R,sIL-6R between the patients and the control group (P ＜ 0.01).After treatment,the levels of serum IL-2,IL-6,sIL-2R and sIL-6R in responsive patients were significantly decreased when compared with those before the treatment(P＜ 0.01).The four indexes of refractory patients didn' t alter after venlafaxine treatment (P ＞ 0.05).There were positive correlations between HAMD,serum IL-2 (r =0.677 ; P =0.000) and IL-6 (r =0.197 ; P =0.033) before treatment in all patients.Conclusion Serum IL-2 and IL-6 may play a role in the onset of the depression.The efficacy of venlafaxine is negatively correlated with the levels of serum IL-2 and IL-6.Regulating the imbalanced inflammatory cytokines and the immune system may be one of the mechanisms of drug therapy of depression.