Correlation between interleukin-6 levels and methadone maintenance therapy outcomes.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The outcome of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) varies in each patient with opioid use disorder (OUD). Opioid abuse activates proinflammatory processes by increasing cytokine production and impairing neurotrophic factor expression, and possibly leads to a vicious cycle that hinders recovery. Therefore, we investigated whether markers of inflammation and neurotrophic expression correlate with the MMT outcomes in OUD patients.

METHOD:

We investigated OUD patients undergoing MMT and followed them up for 12 weeks. We measured plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), urinary morphine tests, and plasma morphine levels at baseline and on weeks 1, 4, 8, and 12 during MMT. Multiple linear regressions and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to examine the correlation between the cytokine and BDNF levels and MMT outcomes.

RESULTS:

We initially enrolled 104 patients, but only 78 patients completed end-of-study assessments. Plasma levels of CRP, TGF-β1, and BDNF fell during MMT. Plasma IL-6 levels were significantly associated with plasma morphine levels (P = 0.005) and urinary morphine-positive (+) results (P = 0.04), and significantly associated with poor compliance (P = 0.009) and early dropout from MMT (P = 0.001). However, other cytokine and BDNF levels were not consistently associated with MMT outcomes.

CONCLUSION:

Higher IL-6 levels were associated with poor MMT outcomes. Additional studies on regulating IL-6 expression to improve treatment outcomes in OUD patients might be warranted.

• Authors: Ru-Band Lu, Tzu-Yun Wang, Sheng-Yu Lee, Shiou-Lan Chen, Yun-Hsuan Chang, Po See Chen, Shih-Hsien Lin, Chun-Hsien Chu, San-Yuan Huang, Nian-Sheng Tzeng, I Hui Lee, Kao Chin Chen, Yen Kuang Yang, Ping Chen, Shih-Heng Chen, Jau-Shyong Hong
• Journal: Drug and alcohol dependence (Drug Alcohol Depend) Vol. 204 Pg. 107516 (11 01 2019) ISSN: 1879-0046 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 31513981 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Biomarkers
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
• Interleukin-1beta
• Interleukin-6
• TGFB1 protein, human
• Transforming Growth Factor beta1
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• BDNF protein, human
• Morphine
• C-Reactive Protein
• Methadone

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Biomarkers (blood, metabolism)
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (blood)
• C-Reactive Protein (metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• Inflammation (blood)
• Interleukin-1beta (blood)
• Interleukin-6 (blood)
• Male
• Methadone (therapeutic use)
• Middle Aged
• Morphine (blood, urine)
• Opiate Substitution Treatment (statistics & numerical data)
• Opioid-Related Disorders (drug therapy)
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic (statistics & numerical data)
• Transforming Growth Factor beta1 (blood)
• Treatment Outcome
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (blood)
• Young Adult