Emerging tendency towards autoimmune process in major depressive patients: A novel insight from Th17 cells

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 188; no. 2; pp. 224 - 230
• Main Authors: Chen, Yili, Jiang, Tang, Chen, Peisong, Ouyang, Juan, Xu, Guiyun, Zeng, Zhijie, Sun, Yanhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ireland Ltd 30.07.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Antibodies, Antinuclear - blood; Autoimmune process; Autoimmunity - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major - immunology; Depressive Disorder, Major - pathology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Female; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Interleukin-17 - blood; Major depressive disorder; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mood disorders; Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 1, Group F, Member 3 - genetics; Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 1, Group F, Member 3 - metabolism; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Statistics, Nonparametric; Th17 cells; Th17 Cells - immunology; Young Adult; Autoimmune process; Major depressive disorder; Th17 cells; Mood disorder; Autoimmunity; Human; Cytokine; Helper cell; Depression; Cell subpopulation; Interleukin 17
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.10.029

Abstract Evidence indicates that there is an emerging tendency towards autoimmunity occuring in major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of our study is to investigate the mechanism of autoimmune process in MDD from a novel insight of Th17 cells, which have been identified as the significant activators of autoimmunity. We included 40 patients with MDD and 30 healthy control subjects. An indirect immunofluorescence test was used for the detection of serum antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and revealed that the patient group was positive more frequently than the control group. By flow cytometric analysis, depressed subjects revealed a significant increase in peripheral Th17 cell number, and an obvious decrease in T-reg cell number, showing an imbalance of Th17/Treg ratio compared to healthy controls. We also found a higher level of RORγt (retinoic acid-related orphan receptor-γt, the specific transcription factor of Th17 cell) mRNA expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes by RT-PCR and serum concentration of IL-17 by ELISA in patients. In conclusion, our study showed a potential role of Th17 cells in the autoimmune process in MDD patients, thus contributing to the existing evidence of autoimmune inclination in MDD.