Citation

Teche SP, Rovaris DL, Aguiar BW, Hauck S, Vitola ES, Bau CH, Freitas LH, Grevet EH. Psychiatry Res. 2017; 250: 136-140.

Affiliation

Post-Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Federal University at Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine (FAMED), Federal University at Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; PTSD Outpatient program (NET-Trauma), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address: eugenio.grevet@ufrgs.br.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.072

PMID

28160656

Abstract

The exposition to traumatic events related to urban violence is epidemic in Brazil, with rate of 80% in the general population, and is becoming a major cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The objective of the study was to compare serum levels of pro-inflammatory interleukin-6 (IL-6) and anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10) in PTSD and resilient individuals. We hypothesized that resilient individuals present an attenuated pro-inflammatory and enhanced anti-inflammatory state. We conducted a case-control study comparing 30 resilient individuals and 30 PTSD patients exposed to traumatic events related to urban violence. The groups were evaluated using Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20), Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Davidson Trauma Scale. For all individuals, blood samples were collected to determine IL-6, IL-10 and cortisol serum levels. All samples were frozen at -80°C until the assay and were analyzed with the same immunoassay kit and in duplicates. The resilient group presented higher IL-10 levels than PTSD patients [mean (CI95%); 1.03 (0.52-2.08) pg/mL vs. 0.29 (0.20-0.43) pg/mL; P=0.002]. There were no differences in terms of IL-6 or cortisol levels. The results provided evidence for increased levels of IL-10 in resilient individuals when compared to PTSD patients, probably conferring them a better anti-inflammatory response after exposition.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

IL-10; IL-6; Low- or middle-income country; PTSD; Resilience; Urban violence