Background: There are studies that have investigated the association of pro-inflammatory cytokines with depressive disorders, but they often present certain limitations. In this study, two substantial groups of patients were analyzed: 92 patients with major depressive disorder and 76 without depressive disorders. The strict inclusion and exclusion criteria for the analyzed groups significantly increased the value of the obtained results. The research question of this study was whether levels of inflammation, measured by the inflammatory markers IL-6, IL-1α, and TNF-α, could predict the severity of depressive symptoms. This could provide additional evidence supporting the hypothesis that inflammation plays a notable role in the pathogenesis of depression. The data analysis supports the hypothesis that the biological mechanisms of inflammation contribute to the clinical manifestations of depression. Elevated levels of inflammatory markers, especially interleukins (IL-6, IL-1α) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF α), have been identified in patients with major depressive disorder compared to the findings in healthy controls. Materials and Methods: Inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-1α, and TNF-α) were measured in a sample of 92 patients hospitalized at the Socola Institute of Psychiatry in Iasi, Romania, and compared to a control group with no depression or inflammatory conditions (n = 76). Severity of depressive symptoms was assessed using HAM-D scores. Results: The study results indicated that values of plasma inflammatory markers were significantly higher in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to the control group (IL-1α: 1.16 ± 0.44 pg/mL vs. 0.89 ± 0.25 pg/mL, p = 0.0004; IL-6: 9.21 ± 4.82 pg/mL vs. 7.16 ± 4.32 pg/mL, p = 0.0149; and TNF-α: 2.02 ± 0.96 pg/mL vs. 1.67 ± 0.8 pg/mL, p = 0.0286). The differences remained significant after applying logarithmic transformation, which was necessary to adjust for outlier values. An analysis of demographic characteristics showed that the frequency of women (67.4% vs. 36.84%, p < 0.001), cohabiting individuals (28.26% vs. 10.53%, p = 0.0001), and alcohol consumers (67.39% vs. 47.37%, p = 0.0087) was significantly higher in patients with MDD. The level of education was significantly lower in patients with MDD (median (IQR): 12 (2.5) years vs. 14 (8) years, p = 0.0016). The evaluation of confounding variables, including patients’ gender, marital status, education level, and alcohol consumption, was performed using multiple linear regression models. The results indicated that these demographic variables did not significantly influence the correlation between the HAM-D score and the values of IL-6, IL-1α, and TNF-α. A significant correlation between the HAM-D score and the logarithmic values of inflammatory markers was observed for log IL-1α in men (r = 0.355, p = 0.0014), log IL-6 in women (r = 0.0313, p = 0.0027), and log TNF-α in women (r = 0.3922, p = 0.0001). The results of the multiple linear regression and predictive analysis indicated that IL-1α (AUC = 0.677, p = 0.0004), IL-6 (AUC = 0.724, p < 0.001), and TNF-α (AUC = 0.861, p < 0.001) demonstrate high accuracy in discriminating patients with MDD. Conclusions: The results highlighted that IL-6 (AUC = 0.724; 95% CI: 0.648–0.801) and TNF-α (AUC = 0.861; 95% CI: 0.797–0.925) are significant predictors for major depressive disorder. The study highlights the potential of cytokines (IL-1α, IL-6 and TNF-α) as diagnostic markers. These findings support the hypothesis that inflammation may play an important role in the development or exacerbation of depressive symptoms.

Background/Objectives: Gastrointestinal bleeding after metabolic bariatric surgery is a relatively rare adverse event, but it has significant morbidity potential. The clinical course can be rapidly unfavorable, requiring early recognition and prompt intervention. The management of this complication often involves different approaches, surgical or endoscopic, the use of which is influenced by the particularities of the postoperative anatomy and the timing of the bleeding. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence, clinical characteristics, and factors associated with postoperative bleeding following bariatric surgery. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on patients who underwent bariatric surgery between 2012 and 2025 at a single tertiary center. During this period, 1010 bariatric procedures were performed. Of these, 68 patients developed postoperative complications and 24 experienced postoperative bleeding. Postoperative bleeding was defined as a hemoglobin drop > 2 g/dL and/or clinically evident bleeding requiring intervention. As bleeding represents a specific subtype of postoperative complication, all statistical analyses were restricted to patients with documented complications. Results: Among the 68 patients with postoperative complications, 24 (35.3%) developed postoperative bleeding. In this exploratory analysis, male sex showed a signal suggestive of association with postoperative bleeding (OR: 9.69, p = 0.005); however, this finding should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating given the study design and the analysis’s being restricted to patients with complications. Given the limited number of bleeding events, effect estimates should be interpreted cautiously. In an exploratory multivariate model, dyslipidemia was associated with increased odds of bleeding (OR: 19.90, p = 0.047), while hepatomegaly and male sex showed positive but non-significant associations. Conclusions: Among patients who developed postoperative complications after bariatric surgery, male sex emerged as a potential signal associated with postoperative bleeding in this exploratory analysis. These findings should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating rather than definitive predictors and require validation in larger cohorts. Dyslipidemia and hepatomegaly emerged as potential associated factors in exploratory analyses, but these findings require confirmation in prospective and multicentric studies.