A new study shows weak associations between psychiatric symptoms and selected inflammatory biomarkers. The study found that sickness behavior contributed more to explaining psychiatric comorbidity.
What does your study show?
- The patients in this study had several symptoms, but the associations with the investigated inflammatory biomarkers were weak or non-existent. Despite high levels of self-reported sickness behavior, the inflammatory level was generally within the normal range. Interestingly, sickness behaviour was more important in explaining depression and insomnia than inflammatory markers," says the study's first author Jenny Åström Reitan, at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet.
Why are these results important?
- More data on the associations between psychiatric comorbidity, sickness behavior, and inflammatory markers may improve understanding of important mechanisms in chronic pain. Understanding more about experienced sickness, as measured by sickness behavior, can help improve treatments for these symptoms and be a possible target for treatment. The results show the complexity of chronic pain and the difficulty in identifying biomarkers.
How did you conduct the study?
- Self-reported questionnaires and blood samples to analyze levels of inflammatory biomarkers were collected from 80 adult patients with chronic pain at Karolinska University Hospital. The associations between inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)) and depression, insomnia, anxiety, self-rated health, sickness behavior, and pain intensity were analyzed.
What is the next step in your research?
- The next step is to investigate the relationship between pain interference, inflammatory biomarkers and sickness behavior.
The study was conducted in collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital with AFA Insurance, the Swedish Research Council and Stockholm County Council ALF as main financiers.
Publication
Jenny L.M. Åström Reitan, Bianka Karshikoff, Linda Holmström, Mats Lekander, Mike K. Kemani, Rikard K. Wicksell, Psychoneuroendocrinology, published online June 18, 2024. doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107094.
