The Predictive Value of Tenascin‐C, Neopterin and Pro‐Inflammatory Cytokines (IFN‐γ, TNF‐α, IL‐6) in Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment Response

The underlying neurobiological mechanisms of chronic alcohol consumption, particularly neuroinflammation and immune system dysregulation, have been extensively studied in recent years. In this process, the identification of objective biomarkers that can predict treatment response and enable personalized medicine approaches is of critical importance. This study aimed to evaluate the potential predictive value of tenascin-C (TNC), an extracellular matrix protein, neopterin, a marker of cellular immune activation and pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), during the treatment process for alcohol use disorder (AUD). This prospective observational cohort study included 30 patients admitted to an AUD treatment centre and 31 healthy controls. Serum TNC, IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ levels were measured using the ELISA method. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the SCL-90-R and API-K scales. Serum samples were collected from patients at admission and on the 7th day of detoxification treatment. Baseline serum TNC levels in the alcohol group (131.78 ± 50.92 ng/mL) were significantly higher than in the healthy control group (63.92 ± 23.85 ng/mL). In the alcohol group, TNC (p = 0.007) and AST (p = 0.025) levels decreased significantly, while vitamin B12 (p = 0.002) and platelet count (p = 0.012) increased. No significant difference was observed in neopterin and cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-6 and IFN-γ) between baseline and follow-up measurements. Clinical assessments showed significant improvements in depression (p = 0.041), anxiety (p = 0.014) and total symptom scores (p = 0.026) on the SCL-90-R scale. ROC analysis showed that a reduction of 28.22% or more in TNC predicted clinical improvement with an overall accuracy rate of 73.33%.