Psychology and Markers

Background. Peripheral cytokines are related to cognitive impairment in delirium and dementia. During alcohol detoxification, elevation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines is reported. However, the relationship between peripheral cytokines and cognitive function in alcohol dependence has not been examined. We characterised the serum cytokine profile during alcohol detoxification, hypothesising that cytokines changing during detoxification would relate to cognitive performance. Methods. We recruited 54 patients undergoing in-patient detoxification (M = 33, aged 47 ± 13), took blood for serum cytokine analysis early (day 1-3), mid (day 4-6) and late (day 7 -10) in detoxification. At the last time point, verbal memory (Weschler Memory Scale), and Trail Making Tests A and B (Halstead-Reitan battery) were administered. Cytokines were measured using a Luminex 25-plex system. Ten cytokines undetectable in >10% samples were excluded from further analysis. We performed repeated-measures analyses of variance to examine cytokine changes during detoxification, and correlations controlling for age, previous alcohol intake, previous detoxifications and gamma glutamyl transferase, to examine the relationship between cytokines and cognition. Results. Few cytokines changed during detoxification: IL-6 (F = 7.210; p = 0.0038), MCP-1 (F = 10.25; p = 0.0002) and IL-8 (F = 11.46; p = 0.0002) decreased while IL-12 increased (F = 12.32; p = 0.0003). MCP-1 (-0.508, p = 0.004) correlated inversely with time taken to complete Trails A (-0.508, p = 0.004), and directly with performance on both immediate (0.371; p = 0.044), and delayed verbal memory (0.412; p = 0.024). Conclusions. Our initial analysis suggests an association between MCP-1 and cognitive function. Further exploration is required to understand its nature, and whether it can be exploited to protect cognition in alcohol dependence.