Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Keaton, Sarah A.
• Arnetz, Judy
• Jamil, Hikmet
• Dhalimi, Abir
• Stemmer, Paul M.
• Ruden, Douglas M.
• Yamin, Jolin
• Achtyes, Eric
• Smart, LeAnn
• Brundin, Lena
• Arnetz, Bengt B.

Titel

IL-10: A possible immunobiological component of positive mental health in refugees

Ist Teil von

• Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology (Online), 2021-11, Vol.8, p.100097, Article 100097

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• As the number of refugees continues to rise, there is growing concern about the impact from trauma exposures on their mental health. However, there is a limited understanding of possible biological mechanisms contributing to the substantial inter-individual differences in trauma-related outcomes, especially as it relates to positive mental health. Only sparse work has focused on the biology of positive mental health, including energy and sleep, in trauma-exposed persons. In this study, we analyzed cytokines in blood from newly arrived refugees with differential trauma exposures in relationship to self-reported energy, as a key marker of positive mental health. Within the first month of arrival in the USA, 64 refugees from Iraq and Syria were interviewed. Refugees completed the clinical DSM-IV PTSD-Checklist Civilian Version (PCL-C), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Ten psychiatrically healthy non-refugee persons were used as healthy controls to compare levels of cytokines. Blood samples were collected at the time of the interview and subsequently analyzed for IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α concentrations. Energy correlated positively with current concentration ability and sleep quality, and negatively with stress, PCL-C, BAI and HADS scores (Spearman correlations, all p<0.05). Refugees had lower levels of IL-10 compared to controls (p<0.05). IL-10 levels in refugees correlated with higher energy levels (p<0.01). Results suggest that self-reported energy is a key component of positive mental health in newly arrived traumatized refugees. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 could be a marker of, or causally associated with positive mental health. A better understanding of the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory states in highly traumatized individuals has the potential to create more targeted and effective treatments with implications for long-term health outcomes. •Energy is a key component to positive mental health in traumatized refugees.•IL-10 could be associated with positive mental health in refugees.•Energy levels correlated positively with concentration ability and sleep quality.