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Psychoneurological symptoms and inflammatory markers in patients with glioma in China: a network analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

Anxiety, depression, sleep disorder, fatigue, and pain develop as common psychoneurological symptoms in patients with glioma, and their occurrence and development are potentially related to inflammatory factors. However, this theory has not been proven within the context of glioma. This study aimed to estimate interconnections among psychoneurological symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers by a network analysis.

Patients and methods

We selected 203 patients with stage I–IV glioma from a tertiary hospital in China using convenient sampling method. Patients completed the self-made questionnaires, Hamilton Anxiety Scale-14 (HAMA-14), Hamilton Depression Scale-24 (HAMD-24), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 (MFI-20), and pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). The plasma inflammatory cytokines were examined. Partial correlation network analysis was performed to illustrate interactions of symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers.

Results

Among the 203 included patients, all psychoneurological symptoms, except for depression and pain, exhibited significant connections with each other. Depression, anxiety, fatigue, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) with higher strength centrality indices were identified as the most central node within the symptom-biomarker network.

Conclusions

Depression, anxiety, fatigue, IL-6, and TNF-α play a significant role in the symptom-biomarker network in patients with glioma. Medical staff should strengthen the dynamic evaluation of the involved symptoms and inflammatory cytokines and take effective measures to alleviate the burden of symptoms and improve the quality of life of patients.

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Data availability

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Acknowledgements

Thanks for the guidance and help from Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute.

Funding

This research was supported by the Key Technology Research and Development Program of Shandong (2017GSF218028).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Huayu Li, Xiaohan Shi & Xinrui Zhang

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Jing Li & Feng Li

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  1. Huayu Li
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  2. Xiaohan Shi
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  3. Jing Li
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  4. Xinrui Zhang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Feng Li: conceptualization, project administration, and writing—review and editing. Huayu Li: investigation, methodology, software, and writing—original draft preparation. Xiaohan Shi: data collection supervision, formal analysis, and writing assisting. Jing Li: data collection supervision, software, and methodology. Xinrui Zhang: investigation, formal analysis, and methodology. The authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Feng Li.

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Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Review Board of School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University (protocol code 2020-R-071).

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All patients provided informed consent prior to the study.

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Li, H., Shi, X., Li, J. et al. Psychoneurological symptoms and inflammatory markers in patients with glioma in China: a network analysis. Support Care Cancer 31, 435 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07873-6

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