The relation of severity of depressive symptoms to monocyte-associated proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in apparently healthy men

Objective: We examined the relation of severity of depressive symptoms to lipopolysaccharide-stimulated expression of monocyte-associated proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in 53 nonsmoking, healthy men. Methods: Assessments of cytokine and chemokine expression and severity of depressive symptoms were conducted on the same day. The 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess severity of depressive symptoms experienced during the week before study participation. Dual-color flow cytometry was used to determine monocyte-associated (CD14+) expression of interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha), IL-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-8, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) after in vitro lipopolysaccharide stimulation of undiluted whole blood. Results: Calculations of partial correlation coefficients controlling for age, race, body mass index, and alcohol use indicated that BDI score was significantly associated with IL-1alpha (r = 0.27), IL-1beta (r = 0.44), TNF-alpha (r = 0.57), MCP-1 (r = 0.52), and IL-8 (r = 0.33). In addition, relative to men with BDI scores below 10, men with BDI scores of 10 or above exhibited an overexpression of IL-1beta (p = .004), TNF-a (p = .005), IL-8 (p = .002), and MCP-1 (p = .025). Conclusions: Relative to men with no or minimal symptoms of depression, men with mild to moderate levels of depressive symptoms showed overexpression of monocyte-associated proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines.