Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokine Balance in Major Depression: Effect of Sertraline Therapy

• Main Authors: Levent Sutcigil, Cagatay Oktenli, Ugur Musabak, Ali Bozkurt, Adnan Cansever, Ozcan Uzun, S. Yavuz Sanisoglu, Zeki Yesilova, Nahit Ozmenler, Aytekin Ozsahin, Ali Sengul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2007-01-01
• Series: Clinical and Developmental Immunology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2007/76396

The specific associations between antidepressant treatment and alterations in the levels of cytokines remain to be elucidated. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of IL-2, IL-4, IL-12, TNF-α, TGF-β1, and MCP-1 in major depression and to investigate the effects of sertraline therapy. Cytokine and chemokine levels were measured at the time of admission and 8 weeks after sertraline treatment. Our results suggest that the proinflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-12, and TNF-α) and MCP-1 were significantly higher, whereas anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and TGF-β1 were significantly lower in patients with major depression than those of healthy controls. It seems likely that the sertraline therapy might have exerted immunomodulatory effects through a decrease in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-12 and an increase in the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and TGF-β1. In conclusion, our results indicate that Th1-, Th2-, and Th3-type cytokines are altered in the depressed patients and some of them might have been corrected by sertraline treatment.