PLASMA INTERLEUKIN-BETA AND TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR CONCENTRATIONS IN OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS

Plasma interleukin-1 beta (Il-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) concentrations, were measured twice, at a 48-hour interval , in 27 drug-free obsessive-compulsive patients (12 women and 15 men) and in 27 sex-age-matched healthy controls. Il-1 beta and TNF-alpha co ncentrations were significantly lower in patients than in controls, wh ereas there were no differences in either group between men and women, between the samples of the two days, or, in the patients, between tho se who had and those who had not been previously treated with psychoph armacologic drugs. (C) 1997 Society of Biological Psychiatry.