Cytokines are peptides involved in the regulation of the immune, nervous, and digestive systems. According to the mechanism of action, they are divided into:
· Pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1,2,6,8; interferon);
· Antiinflammatory (IL4,10).
Cytokines can cause depression. This fact was established Capuron c coavtorami , 2000 g. Treatment IL 2, IFN-alpha tumors and hepatitis C led to the emergence of depression. Although it was established that patients with cancer and hepatitis C are predisposed to depression, nevertheless, cytokine therapy led to weakness, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. It is also impossible to write off the factor of hereditary predisposition and individual response to treatment with cytokines.
Depression is also caused by disturbances in the hormonal axis of stress: hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal glands. Upon injection of cytokines, a change in the concentration of stress axis hormones is observed.
When patients were administered endotoxin, which causes an increase in the concentration of pro-inflammatory toxins , symptoms of damage to the autonomic nervous system were expressed. This fact correlated with the amount of the cytokine IL-6. With an increase in the concentration of this pro-inflammatory cytokine, the strength of affective disorders on the part of the nervous system increased.