Korean J Psychopharmacol.  2013 Jan;24(1):5-10.

Depression as an Inflammatory Disease

• Song HR
• Woo YS
• Bahk WM

Abstract

Inflammation is an immune response engaged with the reciprocal interactions among the neural, endocrine and immune system. From this psychoneuroimmunological view, inflammation is one of important allostatic loads contributory to depression. Sickness behaviors in the inflammatory state share many parts of depressive symptoms and patients treated with cytokines for various illnesses are at increased risk of developing depression. The dysfunctions of cytokines and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis have been widely investigated to find out inflammatory responses. Inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, glucocorticoid and C-reactive protein affect the etiopathogenesis of depression via altered monoamine and glutamate neurotransmission, glucocorticoid receptor resistance and neurogenesis. Although inflammation is subtle and not easy to be detected in the wide population, it is basal pathophysiology and plays an important role at least to the vulnerable patients. From this perspectives, inflammatory markers may be useful in the diagnosis and prediction of treatment response, leading to the possibility of tailored treatments. Understanding depression as a kind of inflammatory disease would provide new opportunities for the psychiatry beyond monoamine theory.

Keyword

Depression; Inflammation; Cytokine; Glucocorticoid; Psychoneuroimmunology

MeSH Terms

Allostasis
Axis, Cervical Vertebra
C-Reactive Protein
Cytokines
Depression
Glutamic Acid
Humans
Illness Behavior
Immune System
Inflammation
Neurogenesis
Psychoneuroimmunology
Receptors, Glucocorticoid
Synaptic Transmission
C-Reactive Protein
Cytokines
Glutamic Acid
Receptors, Glucocorticoid