The Relationship between Proinflammatory Cytokines, Trait Mindfulness, and Psychological Well-Being in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis(RA) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune systemstarts attacking its own cells especially, joints. Individuals with RA are 3 times more susceptible todepression and anxiety. Mindfulness-based interventions have been found efficacious in decreasingdepressive symptoms and increasing psychological well-being(PWB) in this population, but therelationship between trait mindfulness and PWB with proinflammatory cytokines implicated in RA hasnot been explored to date. Background: Rheumatoid arthritis(RA) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune systemstarts attacking its own cells especially, joints. Individuals with RA are 3 times more susceptible todepression and anxiety. Mindfulness-based interventions have been found efficacious in decreasingdepressive symptoms and increasing psychological well-being(PWB) in this population, but therelationship between trait mindfulness and PWB with proinflammatory cytokines implicated in RA hasnot been explored to date.Objective: This study aimed to understand the relationship between proinflammatory cytokines, traitmindfulness, and psychological well-being in rheumatoid arthritis patients.Method: The study consisted of a total of 16 individuals from the 45-75 years age group who havebeen diagnosed with RA, taking treatment from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. Proinflammatorycytokines in saliva, IL-6 and TNF levels were measured using an ELISA kit, and scales wereadministered to measure trait mindfulness, psychological well-being, and functioning. Descriptiveanalysis was done to study the relationship between the variables.Results: A significant increase in IL-6 levels were observed in the present study, while TNF- levelswere within normal limits. 50% of the participants reported severe impairment and 75% reporteddepressive symptoms. These results provided evidence of a strong correlation between IL-6 levelsand depression. There was a strong positive correlation between trait mindfulness and psychologicalwell-being, . Trait mindfulness however had a moderately negative correlation withdepressive symptoms and disability. Moreover, the relationship between psychological well-being anddepressive symptoms and disability was not significant. The relationship between depressive symptomsand disability was highly significant, Discussion and Conclusion: People with RA experience difficulty carrying out everyday tasks andtend to suffer from depression. However, people who score high on Mindfulness and PWB experienceless depression and face less interference in their daily activities. Thus, interventions that promotemindfulness practice and psychological well-being may prove to be effective in decreasing depressivesymptoms in RA patients as well as proinflammatory cytokines.