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PMID: 16316783 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

Cytokines sing the blues: inflammation and the pathogenesis of depression.

Trends in immunology ·Vol. 27 ·No. 1 ·2006-01-00 ·Pages 24-31

Raison CL, Capuron L, Miller AH

Abstract

Increasing amounts of data suggest that inflammatory responses have an important role in the pathophysiology of depression. Depressed patients have been found to have higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins, chemokines and cellular adhesion molecules. In addition, therapeutic administration of the cytokine interferon-alpha leads to depression in up to 50% of patients. Moreover, proinflammatory cytokines have been found to interact with many of the pathophysiological domains that characterize depression, including neurotransmitter metabolism, neuroendocrine function, synaptic plasticity and behavior. Stress, which can precipitate depression, can also promote inflammatory responses through effects on sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system pathways. Finally, depression might be a behavioral byproduct of early adaptive advantages conferred by genes that promote inflammation. These findings suggest that targeting proinflammatory cytokines and their signaling pathways might represent a novel strategy to treat depression.

MeSH Terms
Animals Behavior Cytokines/immunology,metabolism Depression/immunology,metabolism,physiopathology,psychology Humans Inflammation/immunology,metabolism,physiopathology,psychology Models, Biological Stress, Physiological/immunology,pathology
Chemicals
Cytokines
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Raison Charles L
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 101 Woodruff Circle, Suite 4000, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Capuron Lucile
Miller Andrew H
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Article Info
Journal
Trends in immunology
Abbr.
Trends Immunol
ISSN
1471-4906
DOI
10.1016/j.it.2005.11.006
Published
2006-01-00
Epub
2005-00-28
Pages
24-31
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
100966032
PMCID
PMC3392963
Subset
IM
Grants
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH075102 · United States
NCRR NIH HHS · M01 RR000039 · United States
NHLBI NIH HHS · R01 HL073921 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · K05 MH069124 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH067990 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH060723 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH047674 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2005.11.006 PMC Full Text View journal details
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