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Serum interleukin-6 is related to lower cognitive functioning in elderly patients with major depression
Nehad Samir Ali1, Abdel Hamid Hashem Hashem2, Akmal Mostafa Hassan2
1a Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neuropsychiatry , Helwan University Hospital , Egypt.
Background:
There is an increased evidence of an association between inflammatory mediators, particularly serum IL-6, depression and cognitive impairment in the elderly. This study aims at exploring the relation of peripheral IL-6 to cognitive functions in elderly patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).
Objectives:
(1) Assessment of serum IL-6 levels and cognitive functions in elderly patients suffering from major depression and comparing them to healthy age-matched control subjects; (2) correlation between serum IL-6 levels and clinical characteristics of depression and cognitive functions in these patients.
Subjects And Methods:
The study is an observational, case-control study. It consisted of 80 subjects, 40 with the diagnosis of MDD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV-TR) with early onset (first episode before the age of 60) and 40 community-dwelling subjects. They were subjected to the Structured Clinical Interview according to DSM-IV, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and serum IL-6 assay using ELISA.
Results:
In the depression group, subjects had lower scores in cognitive testing, than the control group (p = 0.001). Serum IL-6 was found to have a negative correlation with cognitive testing in these patients even after controlling for the severity of depressive status and Body Mass Index (BMI) (p = 0.025).
Conclusions:
MDD in elderly subjects is associated with decline in cognitive functions that may be related to peripheral IL-6 levels.
