Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in adult attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Objective: There have been many studies indicative of association between psychiatric disorders and inflammation. Beside Schizophrenia, Mood Disorders and Anxiety Disorders, this association has also been pointed out for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Nevertheless we couldn't find any publication in literature interested in association between Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A-ADHD) and inflammation. In this study, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokin levels and an acute phase protein level in A-ADHD patients were measured and tried to find first evidence pointing that possible association. Method: Serum IL-1β, IL-6, IL-13, IL-16, TNF-α and hsCRP levels of 39 patients diagnosed as A-ADHD and healty controls were measured in biochemistry laboratory of Gaziantep University. Results: In Adult ADHD patients, IL1-β levels were determined significantly low (p=0,006) relative to healty controls. There were no significant association between any cytokin and hsCRP level and A-ADHD Subtypes and Clinical Psychiatric Rating Scales. Normalizing effect of psychostimulant treatment were observed in all cytokin levels. Conclusion: There are very few studies about association between ADHD and inflammation in literature. As far as we know, this is the first study evaluating the relation between Adult ADHD and inflammation. In Adult ADHD patients IL-1β levels were measured significantly low when compared with controls but there were not any significant association for the other measured cytokines and hsCRP levels. Future work is needed to demostrate possible relation between inflammation and Adult ADHD. Keywords: Attention Deficit And Hyperactivity Disorder, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-13, IL-16, TNF-α, hsCRP