Evaluation of clinical impact of Interleukin 8 gene expression in patients with fibromyalgia

Amorim, Carolina Dias da Silva; Alves, Marco Felipe Macêdo; Teixeira, Marcella Dias; Queiroz, Larissa Vasconcelos; Santos, Thaysa Walleria de Aragão; Ranzolin, Aline; Martins, Danyelly Bruneska Gondin; Marques, Claudia Diniz Lopes

doi:10.1186/s42358-025-00453-8

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RESEARCH • Adv. rheumatol. 65 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1186/s42358-025-00453-8 linkcopy

Evaluation of clinical impact of Interleukin 8 gene expression in patients with fibromyalgia

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Background Fibromyalgia (FM) is a musculoskeletal syndrome characterized by diffuse and chronic pain associated with other symptoms such as fatigue, sleep/cognition disorders, headache, depression and anxiety, resulting from a change in pain processing. Previous research has shown an increase in some interleukins (IL) in patients with FM when compared to controls, however, there is still no uniformity and consensus in the results. There is no study that evaluates IL8 mRNA expression in FM and its association with obesity and other clinical parameters. This study aims to verify the impact of IL8 mRNA expression on the clinical parameters of patients with FM (FMG) in relation to the comparison group (CG).

Method This study evaluated patients diagnosed with FM treated at the rheumatology service of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Pernambuco (HC-UFPE). The CG group was composed of individuals without chronic pain (companions of the patients and hospital employees). Clinical and demographic data were collected in both groups, and questionnaires for fatigue (FACIT-F), impact of FM (FIQ-R), depression (BDI), and sleep (NRS) were applied to both groups. Peripheral blood was collected for evaluation of IL8 gene expression through real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

Results Patients with FM show a lower frequency of IL8 gene expression compared to the CG, but FMG presented mainly up regulated in relation to CG. There was no association of IL8 expression and worse FIQ-R indices, sleep disturbance, BMI or fatigue. However, there was an association between IL8 expression and moderate depression ( p =0.002) and physical activity p =0.039), where patients in FMG who did express IL8 were practicing less physical activity.

Conclusion Patients in FMG did not have a higher frequency of IL8 expression compared to CG, however patients with IL8 expression have a greater association with moderate depression.

Keywords
Fibromyalgia; Interleukin 8; Depression; Fatigue; Sleep quality; Obesity

Characteristics	FMG ( n = 44)	CG ( n = 45)	P -value*
Age (mean, SD)	42.6 (7.2)	42.5 (7.0)	0.945
Race (n, %)
White	11 (25.0%)	18 (40.0%)	0.033
Brown	31 (70.5%)	20 (44.4%)
Black	2 (4.5%)	7 (15.6%)
Work (n, %)
Unemployed	25 (56.8%)	0 (0%)	0.001
Manual work	12 (27.3%)	4 (8.9%)
Intellectual work	4 (9.1%)	40 (88.9%)
Away on leave	3 (6.8%)	1 (2.2%)
Marital Status (n, %)
Married	23 (52.3%)	19 (42.2%)	0.157
Single	12 (27.3%)	21 (46.7%)
Widow	2 (4.5%)	0 (0%)
Divorced	7 (15.9%)	5 (11.1%)
Comorbidities (n, %)
Depression	15 (34.1%)	3 (6.7%)	0.001
Diabetes	11 (25.0%)	2 (4.4%)	0.007
Hypertension	16 (36.4%)	1 (2.2%)	0.001
Dyspareunia	21 (47.7%)	0 (0%)	0.001
Asthma	0 (0%)	3 (6.7%)	0.242
Dyslipidemia	3 (6.8%)	0 (0%)	0.117
Osteoporosis	1 (2.3%)	1 (2.2%)	0.999
Arthrosis	3 (6.8%)	0 (0%)	0.117
Smoking	1 (2.3%)	2 (4.4%)	0.999
Illicit drugs	0 (0%)	1 (2.2%)	0.999
Boby mass index (n, %)
Normal	8 (18.2%)	20 (45.5%)	0.018
Overweight	13 (29.5%)	11 (25.5%)
Obesity	23 (52.3%)	13 (29.5%)
Does physical activity	0 (0%)	6 (13.3%)	0.012
Aerobic	10 (22.7%)	8(17.8%)	0.561
Resistance	2 (4.5%)	8 (17.8%)	0.090
Ambos	0 (0.0%)	6 (13.3%)	0.026
No activity	31 (70.5%)	24 (43.6%)	0.038
FACIT-F (mean, SD)	14.64 (7.28)	39.84 (9.23)	< 0.001
NRS (mean, SD)	8.73 (1.82)	2.56 (1.57)	< 0.001
BDI (mean, SD)	20.23 (10.13)	7.52 (6.07)	< 0.001
Depression (n,%)
Without depression	0 (0%)	32 (72.7%)	< 0.001
Mild depression	5 (11.4%)	9 (20.4%)
Moderate depression	20 (45.4%)	3 (6.8%)
Severe depression	19 (43.2%)	0 (0%)

Characteristics	Does physical activity	No physical activity	P -value*
Fibromyalgia group
Sleep scale - Median (IQR)	9 (7.5–9)	10 (8–10)	0.105
BDI - Median (IQR)	23 (14.5–29)	29.5 (25–36.5)	0.017
Classification - number (%)
Mild depression	4 (33.3%)	1 (3.1%)	0.019
Moderate depression	5 (41.7%)	15 (46.9%)
Severe depression	3 (25%)	16 (50%)
FACIT-F – Median (IQR)	20.5 (13–25.5)	11 (7–16.5)	0.004
FIQ-R – Median (IQR)	79.3 (61.5–85.5)	89.2 (81.2–95.9)	0.016
Comparison group
Sleep scale Median (IQR)	2 (1–3)	2 (1–5)	0.265
BDI – Median (IQR)	4 (3–6)	7 (4–10)	0.028
Without depression	14 (82.3%)	18 (66.7%)	0.665
Mild depression	2 (11.8%)	7 (25.9%)
Moderate depression	1 (5.9%)	2 (7.4%)
FACIT-F – Median (IQR)	44 (40–49)	39 (32–47)	0.052

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[TFN1] FMG: Fibromyalgia group; CG: Comparison group; FACIT-F: Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy; NRS: Numeric Rating Scale of sleep quality; BDI: Beck depression inventory. SD: Standard Derivation *CI: 95%