Pregabalin inhibits proinflammatory cytokine release in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome
Pınar Ellergezen1
, Alev Alp2, Sinan Çavun1, Melih Çelebi2, Aslı Ceren Macunluoğlu3
1Department of Medical Pharmacology, Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Bursa, Türkiye
2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Bursa, Türkiye
3Department of Biostatistics, Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Bursa, Türkiye
Keywords: Cytokines, fibromyalgia, immunity, inflammation, pregabalin.
Abstract
Objectives: The main goal of the study was to investigate how pregabalin (PGB) affects proinflammatory cytokine release in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).
Patients and methods: This experimental research study was conducted with 85 female participants (mean age: 49.6±10.1 years; range, 30 to 73 years) between April 2020 and November 2020. Of the participants, 30 were FMS patients using PGB 150 mg/day for at least three months, 30 were FMS patients not using PGB, and 25 were healthy individuals. The detection of FMS was carried out according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria. Levels of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-2, IL-6, IL-12, IL-17, interferon-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: Serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines were remarkably decreased in FMS patients using PGB (p<0.001) and were higher in patients with FMS not using PGB than in healthy subjects (p<0.001). The highest values of proinflammatory cytokines were found in the group of FMS patients not using PGB (p<0.001).
Conclusion: These results indicate that PGB inhibits the release of proinflammatory cytokines, suggesting that it can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent in inflammatory cases.
Citation: Ellergezen P, Alp A, Çavun S, Çelebi M, Macunluoğlu AC. Pregabalin inhibits proinflammatory cytokine release in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. Arch Rheumatol 2023;38(2):307-314. doi: 10.46497/ArchRheumatol.2023.9517.
The study protocol was approved by the Uluda¤ University Ethics Committee (date: 2020, no: 2020/2). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
A written informed consent was obtained from each patient.
Conceptualization: P.E., A.A.; Methodology: P.E.; Data collection and processing: P.E., M.Ç.; Data analysis: A.C.M.; Writing-original draft preparation: A.A., P.E.; Writing-review and editing: P.E., A.A., S.Ç.; Visualization: A.A., P.E.; Supervision: S.Ç., All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.