Association of serum levels of IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha with personality dimensions and anxiety or depressive symptoms in patients with skin cancer

Abstract

Background: Cancer patients frequently manifest anxiety or depression symptoms. It has been described that alteration in moods can trigger an organic reaction that could be related with proinflammatory responses. Methods: The study included Sixty Mexican patients with clinical histopathology diagnosis of skin cancer. The questionnaires of Calderón’s depressive syndrome and Eysenck’s personality were applied. The serum levels of IL-1beta, IL6 and TNF-alpha were obtained using the ELISA technique. The MannWhitney U test and Spearman correlation method were performed with a significance level set at p<0.05. Results: Values of IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha were not affected by the presence of anxiety or depression symptomatology. Also, no correlation was detected between cytokines values and personality dimensions. On the other hand, we found correlations between the score of depression versus neuroticism (r=0.767, p<.001) and psychoticism (r=0.425, p<0.01); IL-1beta versus IL-6 (r=0.808, p<0.001), IL-1beta versus TNF alpha (r=0.568, p<0.001), and IL-6 versus TNF alpha (r=0.532, p<0.001). Conclusions: Although, no significant relation among cytokines serum levels with anxiety/depressive symptoms or personality dimensions were demonstrated. We encounter that personality, and the manifestation of depression are related. Furthermore, the results obtained supports a proinflammatory mechanism involved in skin cancer.