The association between interleukin-8 levels and the development of withdrawal symptoms during methamphetamine abstinence.

Objective: Withdrawal symptoms are common during methamphetamine (METH) abstinence. This study aimed to explore the association between serum interleukins and withdrawal symptoms during METH abstinence.

Methods: This study recruited 120 METH users, and 94 of them completed the 2-week follow-up. Serum interleukin-1β, 6,8,10 were tested at admission. Withdrawal symptoms were assessed by the Methamphetamine Withdrawal Questionnaire (MAWQ).

Results: Serum IL-8 levels were positively correlated with MAWQ scores at the 2-week endpoint (r = .257, p = .013). The variation of the MAWQ scores during the 2-week follow-up was negatively correlated with serum IL-8 levels at admission (r = -.249, p = .026). Serum IL-8 levels remained associated with the severity of METH withdrawal symptoms (β = .363, p = .023), after adjusting for potential confounders.

Limitations: This study did not include normal controls. Most patients were male and cigarette smokers. Patients were only followed up for 2 weeks, and their toxicology data were not collected. Interleukins were only measured at admission, and were tested in serum, not in the cerebrospinal fluid.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that higher serum IL-8 levels may predict more severe withdrawal symptoms at 2 weeks after METH abstinence.