Characterization of Serum Inflammatory Cytokines in Depressed Patients with and without Cognitive Impairment

DUAN Huifeng; ZHU Xiquan; JIANG Yupeng; FAN Liangliang; LIU Lizhi; LIANG Xuejun

doi:10.13730/j.issn.2097-2148.2025.12.009

Abstract：Objective To investigate the characteristics and clinical significance of serum inflammatory cytokine lev-els in depressed patients with cognitive impairment.Methods Clinical data of 62 patients with depression in the psychiat-ric outpatient or inpatient department of author's hospital from July 2023 to June 2024 were collected,including 32 pa-tients with cognitive dysfunction(study group)and 30 patients without cognitive dysfunction(control group);Hamilton depression scale 17(HAMD-17)and Montreal cognitive assessment(MoCA)were applied for assessment;serum inter-leukin 1(IL-1),IL-6,tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α)and interferon gamma(IFN-γ)levels of subjects were meas-ured between two groups.Results ① There was no significant difference of HAMD-17 scores between two groups,and the MoCA score of the study group was significantly lower than that of the control group(P＜0.01).② Serum levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1,IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly higher in the study group than those in the control group(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),whereas there was no significant difference in IFN-γ levels between the two groups(P＞0.05).③ Correlation analysis showed that HAMD-17 score was significantly positively correlated with the levels of IL-1,IL-6,TNF-α and IFN-γ,and MoCA score was significantly negatively correlated with each factor(P＜0.05).Conclusion There was upregulation of serum inflammatory cytokine expression in depressed patients,and the elevated levels were more significant in depressed patients with cognitive impairment;serum inflammatory cytokine concentration may be a status indicator reflecting the presence of cognitive impairment in depression.