alteration of il-6 gene expression in patients with type 2 diabetes and depression

Background: type 2 diabetes (t2d) is associated with hyperglycemia as a metabolic disorder. several inflammatory cytokines, including il-6, have been implicated in developing depression in people with type 2 diabetes. objectives: the present study aimed to analyze the expression of the il-6 gene in individuals with concurrent diabetes and depression. methods: a total of 50 cases with concurrent t2d and depression, as a case group and 50 patients with t2d only, as a control group, were referred to the endocrinology and metabolism research institute, tehran university of medical sciences. the total rna was extracted from the blood samples of all subjects. real-time pcr was used to evaluate the expression of the il-6 gene quantitatively. results: there was a decrease in the expression of il-6 in t2d patients suffering from depression (0.62 ± 0.39) compared with those suffering from t2d alone (0.65 ± 0.43). this reduction was, however, not statistically significant (p > 0.05). conclusions: according to the findings, il-6 gene expression is not linked to post-diabetes depression. further studies are warranted to unravel the precise mechanism of il-6 in the development of depression in cases diagnosed with t2d.