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Chapter 14 - Depression and the Adaptive Immune System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2021

By
Robert Dantzer
Edited by
Golam Khandaker ,
Neil Harrison ,
Edward Bullmore  and
Robert Dantzer
Golam Khandaker
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Neil Harrison
Affiliation:
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Edward Bullmore
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Robert Dantzer
Affiliation:
University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center
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Summary

In the context of immunopsychiatry it is important to know whether the association between psychiatric disorders and the immune system that is reported in more and more scientific publications is a real one or just another manifestation of the many comorbid physical conditions that are affecting psychiatric patients. In the case this association is real, the next question is whether the reported alterations in immunity are causal to the psychiatric disorder or just one of its consequences, in the form for instance of the impact of unhealthy lifestyles on the microbiota. Causality, when it exists, provides a unique opportunity to identify new mechanistic targets for drug development. The observation of consistent immune alterations in psychiatric patients also leads to the important interrogation of their functional outcome on the organism resistance to infection or the progression of somatic diseases such as cancer and autoimmunity.

Type
Chapter
Information
Textbook of Immunopsychiatry , pp. 292 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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