Correlations between cytokines, depression and anxiety in patients with colorectal cancer (P2000)

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality in the world. Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent psychological disorders in patients with CRC. This study aims to investigate whether there is a correlation between anxiety, depression and serum cytokines in CRC patients. The study group consisted of 19 patients hospitalized for surgical resection of CRC and 20 healthy volunteers comprised the control group. Depression and anxiety were analyzed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and serum levels of IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α, TGF-β and IL-10 were measured by ELISA. We found that among CRC patients, 47.4% and 52.6% manifested clinically significant levels of anxiety and depression, respectively and 57.9% manifested a combination of severe anxiety and depression. Furthermore, these patients had increased serum levels of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α, but lower concentrations of IL-12. Analysis of correlation between HADS scores and serum levels of cytokines in CRC patients revealed a positive association of anxiety and/or depression with IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α and a negative correlation with IL-12. These initial results indicate a correlation between serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, anxiety and depression in CRC patients and suggest that cytokines are involved in the pathophysiology of these comorbidities in this sample.