Abstract
This study examined how serum interleukin-1 beta (sIL-1β) interacts with the Big Five personality trait of Neuroticism to influence 12-week antidepressant treatment outcomes in patients with depressive disorders. Baseline measurements of sIL-1β and Neuroticism were obtained from 1086 participants enrolled in a naturalistic, stepwise antidepressant treatment program. Remission was defined as a Hamilton depression rating scale score of 7 or below after 12 weeks of treatment. Using logistic regression models that accounted for sociodemographic and clinical variables, we assessed the independent and interactive effects of these factors on treatment response. Elevated sIL-1β levels were significantly associated with non-remission in participants with high Neuroticism, whereas this relationship was not evident among those with lower Neuroticism levels. Notably, the interaction between sIL-1β and Neuroticism was a significant predictor of remission status, even after adjusting for confounders. Our findings reveal that the dynamic modulation of antidepressant response through the interaction of sIL-1β and Neuroticism could inform more personalized treatment strategies, enhancing clinical outcomes for patients with depression. Future research should continue to explore these biomarker-psychological trait interactions to fully understand their role in treatment efficacy.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
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Funding
This research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. RS-2024-00440371), and by the Artificial Intelligence Industry Convergence Agency (AICA), funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT and Gwangju Metropolitan City, under the “Artificial Intelligence-Centered Industrial Convergence Cluster Development Project”, through the “2025 Regular Recruitment Program for AI Datacenter Service Users”.
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Yoo-Chae Kim: Data curation, Investigation, Writing and revision. Sung-Gil Kang: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology. Ju-Wan Kim: Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing. Hee-Ju Kang: Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing and revision. Min Jhon: Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing. Ju-Yeon Lee: Validation, Project administration. Sung-Wan Kim: Validation, Project administration, Writing-supervision. Il-Seon Shin: Validation, Project administration, Writing-supervision. Jae-Min Kim: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing and revision.
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All patients gave written informed consent to participate in the study and use their data. The study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 and approved by the Ethics Commission of the Chonnam National University Hospital Institutional Review Board (CNUH 2012–014) as it uses de-identified data.
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Kim, YC., Kang, SG., Kim, JW. et al. Interactive dynamic modulation of antidepressant treatment response by serum interleukin-1β and Neuroticism at 12 weeks. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35097-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35097-1
