Novel inflammatory targets for immunotherapies in pediatric patients with trichotillomania
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Date
2020
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Abstract
Immune dysregulation may be important in the etiology of obsessive-compulsive and related disordersandbody-focusedrepetitivebehaviors, such as Trichotillomania (TTM). The role of inflammation and inflammatory markers in TTM has received relatively little attention. This study was aimed to determine the expression levels of inflammatory markers (i.e. IL-1β, IL-1α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α and TGF-β) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of children with TTM and healthy controls and to evaluate their association with clinical variables. Seventy-seven patients with TTM and 107 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Peripheral blood was collected in standardized conditions. The mean age of patients and controls did not differ significantly (10.8 ± 4.4 and 12.0 ± 3.2 years; respectively). The majority of patients with TTM and controls were females (n = 55, 71.4 % and n = 55, 51.4 %; respectively); with a greater preponderance of females among TTM. Patients with TTM had significantly elevated expression levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-17 compared to controls. However, the expression level of IL-4 was significantly reduced in TTM patients compared to controls. Accordingly, we found a pro-inflammatory state in TTM and those findings may suggest novel treatment options for TTM and further, cross-disciplinary studies focusing on neuro- inflammation in TTM conducted on larger samples are needed. © 2020 Elsevier GmbH
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Keywords
Adolescent , Age Factors , Biomarkers , Case-Control Studies , Child , Cytokines , Disease Management , Disease Susceptibility , Female , Humans , Immunotherapy , Inflammation Mediators , Male , Phenotype , Sex Factors , Trichotillomania , cytokine , interleukin 17 , interleukin 1alpha , interleukin 1beta , interleukin 4 , interleukin 6 , transforming growth factor beta , tumor necrosis factor , autacoid , biological marker , cytokine , Article , case control study , child , controlled study , cross-sectional study , female , human , human cell , immunotherapy , inflammation , major clinical study , male , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , priority journal , protein expression , trichotillomania , adolescent , age , blood , disease management , disease predisposition , immunotherapy , metabolism , phenotype , sex factor , trichotillomania