Relationship Between Depression and Proinflammatory Cytokine Levels in Hemodialysis Patients

Aim: To evaluate the presence of the relationship between depression and proinflammatory cytokine levels in hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: The study included 40 HD patients and 20 healthy controls. All participants were evaluated for the presence of depression using the structured clinical interview based on criteria defined by Diagnostic and statistical manual mental disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revision) Axis I disorders. The severity of depressive symptoms was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The depressive patients received antidepressants for 8 weeks. Blood samples were taken at baseline and after 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment for interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels.

Results: A total of 9 (22.5%) of the 40 HD patients had depression. IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α levels were significantly higher in HD patients compared with that in the control group, but were not significantly different between HD patients with and without depression. In the depressive patients, we observed no significant difference in proinflammatory cytokine levels after antidepressant treatment. The psychometric measurements in depressive patients decreased significantly after antidepressant treatment.

Conclusion: We observed that depression is a common psychiatric disorder and has no significant effect on proinflammatory cytokine levels in HD patients; no important improvement in cytokine levels was observed after antidepressant therapy.