144. Heavy drinking may attenuate elevated inflammatory cytokine levels of major depression in alcohol disorders

There is scant data on immune function in the context of AUD and MD comorbidity. We aimed to determine and compare levels of circulating cytokines in AUD patients with and without MD. This is a cross-sectional study of 176 patients seeking treatment for their AUD from 8 treatment centers in Nepal. The Composite International Diagnostic Instrument was used to diagnose AUD and MD, and alcohol use parameters included frequent weekly alcohol use (>4 days) and 10 + drinks consumed per typical drinking day. We used ELISA to determine circulating levels of the cytokines IL-6, TNF- α , INF- γ , and IL-10. The Mann–Whitney U-test was employed to observe differences in cytokine levels across groups. The sample was 89% male with a mean age of 36 years, and 45% had comorbid MD. Patients with comorbid MD had elevated levels of IL-6 ( p  = 0.019), TNF- α ( p  = 0.020) and IFN- γ ( p  = 0.001) compared to patients without MD. Significantly elevated levels of all cytokines were also observed among AUD patients with MD with less frequent weekly alcohol use (