Source
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. l.bazzichi@int.med.unipi.it
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the possible role of the soluble factor in fibromyalgia (FM) by studying the correlation of cytokine levels with the patients' clinical and psychiatric profile.
METHODS:
Eighty FM patients underwent clinical and psychiatric evaluations, and plasma levels of cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-alpha), aspecific markers of inflammation, rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-extractable nuclear antigen (ENA) antibodies, and anti-nuclear factor (FAN) were measured.
RESULTS:
Higher levels of IL-10, IL-8 and TNF-alpha were found in FM patients than in controls. Significant correlations between the biochemical parameters and clinical data were found.
CONCLUSION:
The higher levels of cytokines found in FM patients suggest the presence of an inflammatory response system (IRS) and highlight a parallel between the clinical symptoms and biochemical data. They support the hypothesis that cytokines may play a role in the clinical features of fibromyalgia. In addition, the similar cytokine patterns found in FM patients with different psychiatric profiles suggests that IRS impairment may play a specific role in the disease.