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Table 4 Characteristics of studies investigating serum levels of cytokines in FMS patients.

From: Systematic review with meta-analysis: cytokines in fibromyalgia syndrome

Author, yr.

Diagnosis criteria

N patients/controls

a) Material

b) Methods

c) Investigated targets

Results

Modified CEBM

level

NOS

W-MeQS

Maes, 1999

ACR

21/33

a) serum

B) ELISA

c) IL-6, sIL-6 R, sIL-1R, IL-1 RA

In FMS compared to controls:

IL-6↔

sIL-6 R

sIL-1R

IL-1 RA

3d

2

0.3

Pay. 2000

ACR

25 FMS/25 chronic musculoskeletal complaints/25 controls

a) serum

b) ELISA

c) IL-1b, TNF, IL-6

No difference for pro-inflammatory cytokines in FMS and controls.

3d

3

0.4

Wallace, 2001

ACR

56/56

a) serum, PBMC, plasma

b) ELISA

c) IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, sIL-2 R, IL-1 RA, IFNγ, TNF

In FMS compared to controls:

IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, sIL-2 R, IFNγ, TNF: ↔ in sera +PBMC

IL-1 RA: in serum

IL-8: in plasma

IL-1 RA, IL-6: in PBMC

IL-6: in PBMC of patients with disease duration > 2 years.

3d

3

0.5

Gür,

2002

ACR

81/32

a) serum

b) ELISA

c) IL-1, IL-2R, IL-6,

IL-8

In FMS compared to controls:

IL-1 ↔

IL-2 R

IL-6 ↔

IL-8

3d

2

0.4

Schwarz, 2002

ACR

17/17

a) serum

b) ELISA

c) IL-6

IL-6 during tryptophan depletion in FMS

3d

4

0.3

Ardic, 2006

ACR

21/10 (data not given)

a) serum

b) ELISA

c) IL-1 (after balneo therapy)

After balneo therapy:

IL-1↓ in FMS

3d

3

0.2

Üçeyler, 2006

ACR

26/40

a) serum; whole blood

b) qRT-PCR;

ELISA

c) IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, TNF, TGF β1

In FMS compared to controls:

IL-2 ↔

IL-4

IL-8 ↔

IL-10

TGF β1 ↔

TNF ↔

3d

4

0.8

Bazzichi, 2007

ACR

285/40 (16 rheumatoid arthritis cases, two Sjögren's

syndrome cases, 16 systemic lupus erythematosus cases,

four systemic sclerosis cases, two undifferentiated connective-

tissue disease cases)/100

a) serum, plasma

b) ELISA

c) IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF

No intergroup difference for cytokines.

3d

3

0.2

Wang, 2008

ACR

20/80

a) serum

b) Bio-Plex cytokine assay

c) IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-4, TNF

At baseline: IL-8 in FMS > controls; no difference for other cytokines.

3d

4

0.4

Hernandez, 2010

ACR

64/25

a) serum

b) ELISA

c) TNF, IL-1, IL-6

TNF: FMS < controls

IL-1: not detectable in FMS

IL-6: FMS > controls

3c

4

0.6

Iannucelli, 2010

ACR

51/25 tension type headache/15

a) serum

b) multiplex bead-based sandwich immunoassay

c) IL-1b, IL-1Ra, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, INFγ, TNF

FMS > controls: IL-1Ra, IL-6, IL-10, TNF

3d

3

0.7

Ross, 2010

ACR

24/none

a) serum

b) bead-based immunofluorescence assay

c) IL-1a, IL-1b, IL-1RA, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF

IL-6 and IL-8: FMS responders (i.e. GH response to exercise of ≥ 5 ng/mL) higher than FMS non-responders. For IL-1a vice versa.

4

1

0.2

  1. FMS > controls
  2. IL-1 RA: Iannuccelli 2010; Maes, 1999; Wallace 2001
  3. IL-6: Iannucelli, 2010; Schwarz, 2002; Hernandez, 2010
  4. IL-8: Gür, 2002; Wang, 2008
  5. FMS = controls
  6. IL-6: Maes, 1999; Pay, 2000; Wallace, 2001; Gür, 2002b; Bazzichi, 2007; Wang 2008
  7. IL-1b/IL-1: Pay, 2000; Wallace, 2001; Gür, 2002b; Bazzichi, 2007; Iannucelli, 2010
  8. TNF: Pay, 2000; Wallace, 2001; Bazzichi, 2007; Wang, 2008
  9. IL-2: Wallace, 2001; Üçeyler, 2006
  10. IL-10: Wallace, 2001; Bazzichi, 2007; Wang, 2008
  11. IFN-g: Wallace, 2001; Iannucelli, 2010
  12. IL-4: Wang, 2008; Iannucelli, 2010
  13. Abbreviations:
  14. ACR: American College of Rheumatology; CEMB: Center of Evidence Based Medicine; ELISA: enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; FMS: fibromyalgia syndrome; IL: interleukin; KYN: kynurenine; NOS: Newcastle Ottawa Scale; NR: not reported; PBMC: peripheral blood mononuclear cells; qRT-PCR: quantitative real-time PCR; R: receptor; RA: receptor antagonist; W-MeQS: Würzburg Methodological Quality Score; yr: year