Association of interleukin-10 levels with age of onset and duration of illness in patients with major depressive disorder

Abstract

Objective: To investigate peripheral levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) and evaluate the relationship between IL-10, age of disease onset, and duration of illness. Methods: Case-control study nested in a population-based cohort of 231 individuals (age 18-24 years) living in Pelotas, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Participants were screened for psychopathology using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Serum IL-10 was measured using commercially available immunoassay kits. Results: Peripheral levels of IL-10 were not significantly different in individuals with MDD or BD as compared to controls. However, higher IL-10 levels were found in MDD patients with a later disease onset as compared with controls or early-onset patients. In addition, IL-10 levels correlated negatively with illness duration in the MDD group. In the BD group, age of onset and duration of illness did not correlate with IL-10 levels. Conclusion: Higher levels of IL-10 are correlated with late onset of MDD symptoms. Moreover, levels of this cytokine might decrease with disease progression, suggesting that an anti-inflammatory balance may be involved in the onset of depressive symptoms and disease progression in susceptible individuals.

Changes in the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines in antidepressant drug-naïve patients with major depression

“…Similar studies have also found increased levels of serum IL-10 in patients with depression, which were decreased or unchanged after antidepressant treatment [ 6 , 31 , 32 ]. IL-10 levels in patients with early-onset depression (<20 years of age) were reported to have no obvious differences with those in healthy controls, but were reported to be elevated in patients with late-onset depression (≥ 20 years of age) [ 33 ]. We found a significant increase in IL-10 levels in our middle-aged patient cohort, which had a mean age of 38.65 ± 13.58 years.…”

Cytokine alterations and cognitive impairment in major depressive disorder: From putative mechanisms to novel treatment targets

“…Indeed, it has been widely reported that various stages of MDD can be characterized by distinct immune-inflammatory profiles (Eyre et al, 2014;Maes et al, 2012). In addition, it has been reported that early-and late-onset cases of MDD may differ in the extent of cytokine alterations (Gazal et al, 2015;Vogelzangs et al, 2014). Another point is that in some studies healthy controls have not been included, limiting conclusions about the specificity of cytokine alterations underlying cognitive deficits observed in MDD.…”

Augmentation of Pharmacotherapy by Sleep Deprivation with Sleep Phase Advance in Treatment-Resistant Depression

“…In the previous study of our center, we observed significantly higher IL-10 concentrations in bipolar patients in remission after a manic episode compared to healthy subjects and patients with sustained remission [51,52]. Gazal et al [53] showed that increased levels of IL-10 occurred in patients with later onset of depressive disorders, and a decrease in the concentrations of this cytokine probably correlated with the disease progression. Ketamine, when used in TRD and causing an immediate antidepressant effect, enhances IL-10 production [54].…”