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. 2021 Jan 23;11(2):66.
doi: 10.3390/jpm11020066.

Inflammatory versus Anti-inflammatory Profiles in Major Depressive Disorders-The Role of IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, IL-35 and Foxp3

Małgorzata Gałecka  1 , Katarzyna Bliźniewska-Kowalska  2 , Agata Orzechowska  2 , Janusz Szemraj  3 , Michael Maes  4 , Michael Berk  5   6 , Kuan-Pin Su  7 , Piotr Gałecki  2
Affiliations

Inflammatory versus Anti-inflammatory Profiles in Major Depressive Disorders-The Role of IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, IL-35 and Foxp3

Małgorzata Gałecka et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Background: The authors of this research study intended to verify whether there are any changes in gene expression in depressed patients without coexisting inflammatory diseases for selected immune-inflammatory factors that are particularly important in autoimmune disease pathogenesis (IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, IL-35, Foxp3).

Methods: The study was carried out on a group of 190 patients with depression and 100 healthy volunteers. The severity of depressive symptoms was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Scale. RT-PCR was used to evaluate mRNA expression and ELISA was used to measure protein expression of these genes.

Results: The level of gene expression for IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, and IL-35 was substantially higher in the group of patients with depression compared to the control group. The mean mRNA expression of Foxp3 was considerably reduced in patients suffering from depressive disorders. There was a statistically significant correlation between the number of hospitalizations and the expression of specific inflammatory factors.

Conclusions: Expression of specific inflammatory genes may be a factor in the etiopathogenesis of depressive disorders. The duration of the disease seems to be more important for the expression of the genes in question than the severity of depression. These cytokines may affect the metabolism of neurotransmitters and neuroendocrine functions in the brain as well as be a marker and a new potential therapeutic target for recurrent depressive disorders.

Keywords: Foxp3; MDD; autoimmunity; depression; inflammation; interleukin 17 (IL-17); interleukin 21 (IL-21); interleukin 23 (IL-23); interleukin 35 (IL-35); mental disorders; neuroscience; psychiatry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression of genes IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, IL-35 at protein level in the study and control group (IL-17—Interleukin 17, IL-21—interleukin 21, IL-23—interleukin 23, IL-35—interleukin 35, K—control group). The figure shows the arithmetic mean, minimum and maximum values of gene expression with confidence intervals of 95%.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Expression of genes IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, IL-35 at the mRNA level in the study and control group (IL-17—interleukin 17, IL-21—interleukin 21, IL-23—interleukin 23, IL-35—interleukin 35, K- control group). The figure shows the arithmetic mean, minimum and maximum values of gene expression with confidence intervals of 95%.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of selected cytokines on Th17 cells—schematic diagram (IL-17—interleukin 17, IL-21—interleukin 21, IL-23—interleukin 23, IL-35—Interleukin 35, ‘+’—promoting effect, ‘-’—inhibitory effect, Th17—Th17 lymphocytes).
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