Abstract

Recent studies on psychological stress have extensively discussed the interaction of the psychological sequel with the human immune system. Prolonged exposure to stress may hamper the accessibility to coping resources, subsequently leading to depression in people. Depression, a major affective disorder, affects the quality of life of patients with HIV and HIV progression; the primary effector of stress response is the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, which has been assessed on the basis of cortisol levels. Cortisol reduced levels of interleukin (IL)-12, a major proinflammatory cytokine and promoter of cell-mediated immunity, in rats. Elucidating the correlation between cortisol and IL-12 cytokine in HIV patients with and without depression may facilitate the understanding of the association of psychological depression with the immune system of patients with HIV. So we enrolled 160 patients; among these, 80 patients each comprised the pre-antiretroviral therapy and Antiretroviral therapy. After obtaining patient consent, the patients were administered the Becks depression scale; based on the scoring of this scale, categorized into the non depressed and depressed group. Furthermore, 5 ml of blood was drawn from all patients for measuring their cortisol and IL-12 levels by using spectrophotometric analysis. Statistical analysis revealed that HIV patients with depression have decreased human plasma IL-12 with increased cortisol levels compared with those without depression.

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