Is major depression associated with serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in patients with rheumatoid arthritis?

Objective: This study presents the serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with major depression and without any psychiatric disorder.

Methods: The study sample included 61 patients with a diagnosis of RA. Major depression and other psychiatric disorders were screened with the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Blood sample for the determination of serum TNF-α level was obtained before the psychiatric interview.

Results: The prevalence rates of any depressive disorder and any anxiety disorder were 40.3% (n=25) and 22.6% (n=14), respectively. Fifteen (24.2%) patients had major depression alone, whereas 27 (43.5%) patients were not diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder. We could not determine any significant differences between the patients with major depression alone and patients without any psychiatric diagnosis with regard to the serum levels of TNF-α.

Conclusions: The existence of major depression in RA patients does not seem to be associated with serum levels of TNF-α.