Crohn’s disease, fatigue, and infliximab: Is there a role for cytokines in the pathogenesis of fatigue?

Table 3 Effect of infliximab on IBDQ and CES-D scores, and IL-18, CRP mean ± SEM

	Placebo infusion		Infliximab infusion
Parameters	Baseline	d 14	Baseline	d 14	d 28
Total IBDQ (range 32-224)	138.6 ± 9.4				179.4 ± 6.7a
Systemic symptoms (range 5-35)	19.9 ± 5.9				25.1 ± 1.6b
CES-D (range 0-60)	20.4 ± 9.4	17.0 ± 2.9	17.0 ± 2.9	14.0 ±2.4	11.3 ± 2.2b
IL-18 (ng/L)	37.1 ± 6.4	37.3 ± 6.5	37.3 ± 6.5	27.4 ± 5.2c	26.6 ± 3.8e
CRP (mg/L)	21.4 ± 6.2	21.9 ± 6.3	21.9 ± 6.3	9.1 ± 1.4d	8.7 ± 0.8e

^aP≤ 0.005;

^bP≤ 0.01 between baseline (before infliximab infusion) and 4 wk after infliximab infusion;

^cP≤ 0.005;

^eP≤ 0.05 between baseline and 2 or 4 wk after infliximab infusion. IBDQ: Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire; CES-D: Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale; IL-18: Interleukin 18; CRP: C-reactive protein.