Effect of duloxetine on the levels of cytokines in patients with first-episode depression

Objective To explore the changes of the levels of cytokines in patients with first-episode depression and the effect on the levels of cytokines after the treatment with duloxetine. Methods The serum levels of interleukin 1(IL-1), interleukin 6(IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α), interleukin4(IL-4), interleukin10(IL-10)were measured in 38 patients with depression before and after duloxetine treatment by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). HAMD score were assessed at pre- treatment and post-treatment to assess curative effect. The control group was 30 healthy individuals.All data were statisticaly analyzed by SPSS. Results Before treatment, the HAMD score and the levels of serum IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1 in first-episode depressant patients were remarkablely higher than those in the control group(IL-6: (10.66±3.12) pg/ml vs (2.72±0.91)pg/ml; TNF-α: (77.49±3.12)pg/ml vs (37.48±5.87)pg/ml; IL-1: (39.09±3.77)pg/ml vs (10.31±1.05)pg/ml ), the levels of serum IL-4 and IL-10 in first-episode depressant patients were remarkablely lower than those in the control group(P<0.05, P<0.01). The HAMD score and the levels of serum IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1 in post-treatment were remarkablely lower than pre-treatment (P<0.05), but which were still higher than the control group(P<0.05). The levels of serum IL-4 and IL-10 in post-treatment were remarkablely increased than pre-treatment(P<0.05). The levels of serum IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1 were positively correlated with the HAMD score(r=0.667, 0.486, 0.727, P<0.01), but the levels of serum IL-4 and IL-10 were negatively correlated with the HAMD scorae (r=-0.433, -0.269, P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusions The first-episode depressant patients show immune disorder induced by cytokines.Anti-depressant activity of duloxetine may participate in the regulation of cytokines and Th1/Th2 unbalance. Key words: Duloxetine; Depression; Cytokine