Circulating Cytokine Levels Compared to Pain in Patients with Fibromyalgia — A Prospective Longitudinal Study Over 6 Months

Objective This prospective study examined circulating cytokines in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) over 6 months rather than at only one timepoint, and investigated correlations between serum cytokine concentrations and pain intensity in FM patients receiving multidisciplinary pain therapy. Methods Serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and antiinflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10 were measured (Bio-Plex system) in 20 FM patients and 80 healthy subjects on admission and 10, 21, and 180 days after initiation of treatment and correlated to pain intensity. Results On admission, serum levels of IL-8 (p Conclusion Our results suggest that proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-8 are involved in FM, but they do not apparently provoke the pain of FM directly. Multidisciplinary pain therapy modified the cytokine profile in patients with FM during the observation period.