Alterations in Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Interferon-gamma, and Interleukin-6 Production by Natural Killer Cell-Enriched Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Chronic Alcoholism: Relationship with Liver Disease and Ethanol Intake

Depression, Immunity, and Survival in Patients With Hepatobiliary Carcinoma

Purpose

The aims of the present study were to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms at diagnosis, test the association between depressive symptoms and survival, and preliminarily test a mediational model of depression, immunity, and survival in patients with hepatobiliary carcinoma (HBC).

Patients and Methods

One hundred one patients diagnosed with HBC were prospectively studied. Depressive symptoms were measured at diagnosis using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Sociodemographic and disease-specific data were gathered from the patients' charts. In a subsample of patients, stress; alcohol, tobacco, and drug use; sleep quality; physical activity; social support; natural killer (NK) cell number and cytotoxicity; and plasma levels of interleukin (IL) -4, IL-5, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interferon gamma were measured. Survival was measured from date of diagnosis to death.

Results

At diagnosis, 37% of patients reported a CES-D score of ≥ 16 (clinical range). Using Cox regression analysis, sociodemographic and disease-specific variables and CES-D score significantly predicted survival (Breslow χ2= 32.4, P = .006). Only vascular invasion (P = .001) and CES-D score ≥ 16 (P = .03) were significant predictors. In a subsample of 23 patients, patients who reported a CES-D score of ≥ 16 were found to have significantly lower NK cell numbers than patients who reported a CES-D score of less than 16 (F1,21= 9.39, P = .003). A robust trend was found in which NK cell number was associated with survival. A mediational model linking depressive symptoms and survival, with NK cell number as a mediator, was preliminarily supported.

Conclusion

Secondary to the high prevalence of depressive symptoms and impact on survival, psychological and pharmacologic interventions should be designed and implemented in patients diagnosed with HBC.

Alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and damage to the immune system--a review

Chronic alcohol abuse exacts a major social and medical toll in the United States and other Western countries. One of the least appreciated medical complications of alcohol abuse is altered immune regulation leading to immunodeficiency and autoimmunity. The consequences of the immunodeficiency include increased susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. In addition, the chronic alcoholic often has circulating autoantibodies, and recent investigations indicate that the most destructive complications of alcoholism, such as liver disease and liver failure, may have a component of autoimmunity. Current research on altered cytokine balance produced by alcohol is leading to new insights on the regulation of the immune system in the chronic alcoholic. There is also recent development of exciting new techniques designed to improve or restore immune function by manipulation of cytokine balance. Although much remains to be learned, both in the abnormalities produced by alcohol and in the techniques to reverse those abnormalities, current progress reflects a rapidly improving understanding of the basic immune disorders of the alcoholic.