Pro-inflammatory cytokine alterations in recent onset anorexia nervosa adolescent female patients before and after 6 months of integrated therapy: A case–control study

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex disorder affecting mainly, but not only, teenagers. Researchers agree that AN is deeply associated with a pro-inflammatory state following an impaired immune system, resulting from altered levels of cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α, also impacted by the frequent depressive states. Thus, the aim of the present case-control study was to evaluate the relationship between patients suffering from AN undergoing specialized eating disorder (ED) treatment for AN and pro-inflammatory cytokines. To reach our purpose, we assessed eating-related psychopathology and depressive symptoms and measured se-rum concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α before and after 6 months of integrated therapy (which included psychopharmacotherapy, psychotherapy and nutritional treatment), in order to define whether selected pro-inflammatory cytokines could be considered a pathophysiological marker of the disorder. A sample of 16 young female patients with early diagnosis of AN, and without any previous treatment, and 22 healthy controls matched by age, sex and socioeconomic status were enrolled. After 6 months of integrated therapy a significant decrease of all selected pro-inflammatory cytokines was detected. In addition, an improvement in the anxiety-depressant aspects was also noted. In conclusion, the results obtained suggest that pro-inflammatory cytokines are indeed related to the pathophysiology of AN. However, further investigations, involving larger samples of patients with distinct subtypes of AN, are es-sential to confirm the current findings.