The effect of depression and anxiety on expression levels of toll like receptor signaling molecules in chronic HBV infected patients

BACKGROUND Toll- like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in the recognition of DAMPs and PAMPs and induction of inflammation. Previous studies demonstrated that depression and anxiety can influence the expression levels of immune related molecules. Our previous study revealed that mRNA levels of IRAKIRAK4, TRAF3 and IRF7 were significantly decreased in chronic HBV infected (CHB) patients when compared to healthy controls. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of depression and anxiety on the expression levels of these molecules in CHB patients. METHODS Sixty CHB patients participated in this study and filled out the standard questionnaires; and the expression of IRAK4, TRAF3 and IRF7 were examined using Real-Time PCR techniques. RESULTS The results of this study demonstrated that expression of IRAK4, TRAF3 and IRF7 did not differ between patients with various stages of depression and anxiety (all p>0.05). CONCLUSION According to the results, it seems that declined expression of IRAK4, TRAF3 and IRF7 in CHB patients were not related to depression and anxiety, and other factors including genetic and immunoregulatory effects of HBV may be responsible for the declined expression of these molecules.