Objective: Proinflammatory cytokines mediate anxiety and depression in various ways, such as immunity, inflammation, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This study intended to further explore the linkage of common proinflammatory cytokine levels with anxiety and depression in psoriasis patients.
Methods: Totally, 150 psoriasis patients and 50 healthy controls (HCs) were included; the serum samples were collected, then common proinflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was assessed.
Results: HADS-anxiety (HADS-A) score, HADS-depression (HADS-D) score, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, IL-17A, and IL-23 were all increased in psoriasis patients compared to HCs (all p < 0.05). In psoriasis patients, TNF-α (p = 0.001), IL-12 (p = 0.035), and IL-17A (p < 0.001), but not IL-1β (p = 0.255), IL-6 (p = 0.248), and IL-23 (p = 0.216), were positively linked to HADS-A score. Meanwhile, TNF-α (p = 0.007) and IL-17A (p = 0.007) were enhanced in psoriasis patients with anxiety in contrast to those without anxiety; whereas IL-1β (p = 0.178), IL-6 (p = 0.360), IL-12 (p = 0.239), and IL-23 (p = 0.450) were not different. TNF-α (p < 0.001), IL-1β (p = 0.013), Il-17A (p < 0.001), and IL-23 (p = 0.023), but not IL-6 (p = 0.143) and IL-12 (p = 0.158), were positively linked to HADS-D score. Concurrently, TNF-α (p = 0.015), IL-17A (p < 0.001), and IL-23 (p = 0.017) were climbed in psoriasis patients with depression by comparison to those without depression; whereas IL-1β (p = 0.113), IL-6 (p = 0.237), IL-12 (p = 0.660) did not differ.
Conclusion: TNF-α, IL-17A, and IL-23 increments reflect anabatic anxiety and depression in psoriasis patients, uncovering the potency of proinflammatory cytokines measurement for monitoring or even preventing psoriasis patients' anxiety and depression.
Keywords: anxiety; depression; hospital anxiety and depression scale; proinflammatory cytokines; psoriasis.
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.