Peripheral Blood Inflammatory Markers in ECT: New Data From Ireland

Out on Pubmed, from researchers in Ireland, is this study: 

Peripheral blood inflammatory markers in depression: Response to electroconvulsive therapy and relationship with cognitive performance.

Ryan KM, McLoughlin DM.Psychiatry Res. 2022 Jul 16;315:114725. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114725. Online ahead of print.PMID: 35870295

The abstract is copied below:

The inflammatory response may play a role in depression and the response to antidepressants. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the most acutely powerful antidepressant treatment, can also affect the innate immune system. Here, we determined circulating blood concentrations of the inflammatory mediators C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α in depressed patients compared to healthy controls and assessed the effect of ECT on their concentrations. Relationships between inflammatory mediator concentrations and mood/cognition scores were also explored. Plasma CRP, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α concentrations were examined in 86 depressed patients and 57 controls. Relationships between inflammatory mediators and clinical or cognitive outcomes following ECT were assessed using correlation and linear regression analyzes, respectively. CRP, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α were elevated in patients at baseline/pre-ECT compared to controls. However, only IL-6 and TNF-α survived adjustment for potential confounders. IL-1β was undetectable in most samples. ECT did not significantly alter plasma concentrations of any of the inflammatory mediators. No relationship was identified between CRP, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α and mood or neurocognitive scores. Overall, our data do not support a major role for these four inflammatory markers in clinical outcomes following ECT or in cognition.

Keywords: Cognition; ECT; Immune response; Inflammation.

The article is here.

And from the text:

This is a carefully carried out, complex study of inflammatory markers in blood from depressed patients who were treated with ECT in the EFFECT-Dep trial, and normal controls. The only positive finding is that depressed patients had higher IL-6 and TNF-alpha at baseline. There were no consistent pre-  to post-ECT changes in these cytokines and no correlation with cognitive effects.

The review of the literature on the inflammation hypothesis of depression is impressive, and the discussion is erudite.

For followers of the immune system in depression/ECT literature, a full read will be ~25 minutes.