title: Serum Cytokine Levels in Major Depressive Disorder and Its Role in Antidepressant Response.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cytokines have been reported to have key roles in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, much less is known about cytokines in MDD and antidepressant treatment due to the diversity of cytokines and the heterogeneity of depression. We investigated the levels of cytokines in patients with MDD compared with healthy subjects and their associations with antidepressant response.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the changes of several cytokines (eotaxin, sCD40L, IL-8, MCP-1alpha, TNF-alpha, INF-gamma and MIP-1alpha) by Luminex assay in 66 patients with MDD and 22 healthy controls. The antidepressant response was assessed by 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found the levels of sCD40L (p=0.001), IL-8 (p=0.004) and MCP-1 (p=0.03) of healthy controls were significantly higher than those of depressive patients. However, the level of eotaxin and TNF-alpha were not associated with MDD. In addition, we found the level of MCP-1 was significantly changed after antidepressant treatment (p=0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest the roles of cytokines in MDD are complex, and could vary according to the individual characteristics of each patient. Further studies regarding the relationship between cytokines and MDD will be required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Woojae
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Myung
authors.affiliation: SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Shinn-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hye In
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Research, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sanghong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Youn
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Doh Kwan
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Antidepressants; Depression; Immune system