Assessment of the Immune System Activity in Iranian Patients with Major Depression Disorder (MDD)

Background: Major Depression Disorder (MDD) is a common disorder with preva-lence of 15% among men and up to 25% among women. In recent years the association of immune system alterations and MDD has been investigated. Assessments of immu-nologic and inflammatory responses in these patients enhance our knowledge of the eti-ology and pathogenesis of this disease. Objective: To investigate the changes in immu-noglobulin and cytokine serum levels and lymphocyte subsets in patients with MDD. Methods: We studied 37 adult patients with MDD, diagnosed based on DSM-IV diag-nostic criteria, and 15 healthy controls matched with the patients. Plasma concentration of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-10, TNF α, and IFN γ were measured by ELISA and serum immunoglobulins by SRID. Total number of NK cells (CD16 and CD56), B cells (CD19), and T cells (CD8, CD4, and CD3) were determined by flow cytometry. Results: We found no significant differences in plasma concentration of IL-4, IL-10, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and immunoglobulins as well as total number of NK cells, B cells, and T cells between major depressed patients and healthy control subjects. Conclusion: We conclude that in our patients, there were no significant differences in immune system ac-tivity between MDD patients and controls.