Fatigue in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: Is It Related to Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines?
Table 1
Clinical characteristics and cytokine scores of fatigued and non-fatigued multiple sclerosis patients.
Fatigue ( = 21)
No fatigue ( = 14)
value
Patient characteristics
Gender
0.77a
Male
7
4
Female
14
10
Age, mean (sd) (years)
43.3 (10.6)
45.0 (8.2)
0.60b
Duration of MS, median (min–max) (years)
8.7 (0.2–20.5)
8.6 (1.0–21.2)
1.00c
Type of MS
0.81a
Relapsing remitting
15
11
Primary or secondary progressive
5
3
EDSS, median (IQ)
2.25 (1.13–3.38)
2.75 (1.38–3.13)
0.99c
Immunomodulatory treatment
0.89aa
Interferon beta
7
3
Glatiramer acetate
1
0
Natalizumab
2
4
No
11
7
CIS20r mean (sd)
Fatigue
46.2 (5.0)
20.6 (7.5)
0.00b
Concentration
19.3 (9.9)
16.6 (8.9)
0.40b
Motivation
14.1 (5.4)
10.4 (6.2)
0.08b
Physical activity
12.0 (5.0)
7.9 (3.7)
0.01b
Pro-inflammatory cytokines
Median (min–max) (pg/mL)
IL-1β
0.3 (0.1–1.1)
0.3 (0.1–2.9)
0.65c
IL-2
0.2 (0.0–1.1)
0.3 (0.0–1.4)
0.21c
IL-6
0.4 (0.2–9.7)
0.3 (0.2–0.9)
0.13c
IL-8
10.0 (5.2–33.9)
10.0 (3.3–18.5)
0.70c
IL12p70
4.4 (0.9–117.6)
3.4 (0.48–229.0)
0.52c
IL-17
0.3 (0.0–1.7)
0.2 (0.0–0.8)
0.28c
TNF-α
7.3 (4.2–12.5)
6.7 (5.1–11.8)
0.78c
IFN-γ
0.8 (0.2–75.7)
1.0 (0.4–5.0)
0.70c
Anti-inflammatory cytokines
Median (min–max) (pg/mL)
IL-4
1.2 (0.6–2.6)
1.1 (0.6–3.9)
0.75c
IL-5
0.5 (0.2–16.0)
0.8 (0.2–15.6)
0.54c
IL-10
2.3 (0.5–42.9)
2.0 (0.9–60.8)
0.75c
IL-13
2.2 (0.6–57.6)
3.3 (0.7–51.0)
0.70c
values according to Chi-square test, independent -test, and Mann-Whitney test.
aaChi-square test comparing use and nonuse of immunomodulatory treatment. One missing value. IQ: interquartiles; CIS20r: Checklist Individual Strength; IL: interleukin; TNFα: tumor necrosis factor α; IFN: interferon.
