TITLE:
Religious Involvement, Inflammatory Markers and Stress Hormones in Major Depression and Chronic Medical Illness
AUTHORS:
Denise L. Bellinger, Lee S. Berk, Harold G. Koenig, Noha Daher, Michelle J. Pearce, Clive J. Robins, Bruce Nelson, Sally F. Shaw, Harvey Jay Cohen, Michael B. King
KEYWORDS:
Religiosity, Depression, Inflammation, Immune Function, Stress Hormones
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.4 No.4,
October
15,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: Religious practices/experiences (RPE) may produce
positive physiological changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD)
and chronic medical illness. Here, we report cross-sectional relationships
between depressive symptoms, RPE and stress biomarkers (pro-/anti-inflammatory
measures and stress hormones), hypothesizing positive associations between
depressive symptoms and stress biomarkers and inverse associations between RPE
and stress biomarkers. Methods: We recruited 132 individuals with both MDD and
chronic illness into a randomized clinical trial. First, stress biomarkers in
the baseline sample were compared to biomarker levels from a community sample. Second,
relationships between depressive symptoms and biomarkers were examined, and,
finally, relationships between RPE and biomarkers were analyzed, controlling
for demographics, depressive symptoms, and physical functioning. Results: As expected, inflammatory markers and
stress hormones were higher in our sample with MDD compared to community
participants. In the current sample, however, depressive symptoms were largely
unrelated to stress biomarkers, and were unexpectedly inversely related to proinflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-1β). Likewise, while RPE were largely
unrelated to stress biomarkers, they were related to the anti-inflammatory
cytokine IL-1RA and the stress hormone norepinephrine in expected directions. Unexpectedly,
RPE were also positively related to the proinflammatory cytokine IFN-γ and to IFN-γ/IL-4 and IFN-γ/IL-10
ratios. Conclusions: Little evidence was found for a consistent pattern of
relationships between depressive symptoms or religiosity and stress biomarkers.
Of the few significant relationships, unexpected findings predominated. Future
research is needed to determine whether religious interventions can alter
stress biomarkers over time in MDD.