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Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Variations in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Before and After Antidepressant Treatment - PubMed

  • ️Wed Jan 01 2020

doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.518837. eCollection 2020.

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Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Variations in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Before and After Antidepressant Treatment

Lin Yao et al. Front Psychiatry. 2020.

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) had been identified as a key pro-inflammatory cytokine in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and the mechanism of antidepressant treatment. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the serum TNF-α levels in Chinese inpatients with MDD during the acute phase and to explore the changes in TNF-α levels after effective clinical treatment. Fifty-seven consecutive inpatients with MDD and 30 healthy controls were recruited. The serum TNF-α levels were detected using ELISA. Symptoms of depression were evaluated using the 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-24). TNF-α levels and HAM-D-24 scores were assessed at baseline and after 2 and 12 weeks of follow-up. The serum TNF-α levels were higher in the MDD group than in the control group. After 2 and 12 weeks of antidepressant treatment, there were significant improvements in the patients' symptoms and significant decreases in the TNF-α levels. The baseline TNF-α levels significantly correlated with the decreased HAM-D-24 scores, particularly for the depressive symptoms of anxiety/somatization and weight loss. The present findings indicate that depression is accompanied by activation of TNF-α, which also has a predictive value for the antidepressant treatment response in patients with MDD.

Keywords: antidepressant; major depressive disorder; remission; serum; tumor necrosis factor-α.

Copyright © 2020 Yao, Pan, Qian, Sun, Gu, Chen, Tang, Hu, Xu, Wei, Hui, Liu, Wang and Zhang.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Differences in serum TNF-α levels among the different groups and follow-up points.

Figure 2
Figure 2

Correlation characteristics between the decrease in the HAM-D-24 total scores after 2 weeks (A) and 12 weeks (B) of treatment and the baseline TNF-α levels.

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