Dissociative symptoms reflect levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha in patients with unipolar depression.
Recent evidence indicates that the nature of interactions between the nervous system and immune system is important in the pathogenesis of depression. Specifically, alterations in pro-inflammatory cytokines have been related to the development of several psychological and neurobiological manifestations of depressive disorder, as well as to stress exposure. A number of findings point to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) as one of the central factors in these processes. Accordingly, in the present study, we test the hypothesis that specific influences of chronic stressors related to traumatic stress and dissociation are related to alterations in TNF-α levels. We performed psychometric measurement of depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]-II), traumatic stress symptoms (Trauma Symptom Checklist [TSC]-40), and psychological and somatoform dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale [DES] and Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire [SDQ]-20, respectively), and immunochemical measure of serum TNF-α in 66 inpatients with unipolar depression (mean age 43.1 ± 7.3 years). The results show that TNF-α is significantly related to DES (Spearman R=-0.42, P<0.01), SDQ-20 (Spearman R=-0.38, P<0.01), and TSC-40 (Spearman R=-0.41, P<0.01), but not to BDI-II. Results of the present study suggest that TNF-α levels are related to dissociative symptoms and stress exposure in depressed patients.
Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry and UHSL, Prague, Czech Republic.
Gustav
G
Bizik
Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry and UHSL, Prague, Czech Republic.
Petr
P
Bob
Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry and UHSL, Prague, Czech Republic.
Jiri
J
Raboch
Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry and UHSL, Prague, Czech Republic.
Josef
J
Pavlat
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Jana
J
Uhrova
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Hana
H
Benakova
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Tomas
T
Zima
TNF-alpha; depression; dissociation; traumatic stress