Inflamation and Depression
Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
First Advisor
Beulig, Alfred
Keywords
Inflamation, Psychiatry, Depression, Psychology, Psychoneuroimmunology
Area of Concentration
General Studies
Abstract
Over a century ago, Professor Julius Wagner von Jauregg received the Nobel Prize for his work on the immunological implications of psychiatry. In the past twenty years, Psychoneuroimmunology has produced novel research on the immunological implications of psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Established by the American Psychiatric Association, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, defines the depression as a depressed mood and loss of interest, insomnia or hypersomnia, fatigue, inability to concentrate, suicidality, psychomotor retardation and weight change. While no clear etiological explanation has been discovered, the pathophysiology of depression involves neurotransmitter imbalance. This review investigates the bidirectional relationship of the nervous and immune systems in depression. The immune system, the body�s highly adaptable defense mechanism, is composed of an innate and adaptive response. If adaptive mechanisms cannot squelch an invader, the inflammatory immune response may become chronic. Cytokines, identified as immune messengers, proliferate during inflammation. Patients with depression exhibit elevated levels of inflammatory markers, such as cytokines. Patients undergoing cytokine therapy experience depressive symptoms. In addition, anti-inflammatory drugs successfully treat depressive symptoms. Although these links are purely associative, treatments that address depression as an immunological disorder may be safer and more effective. If depression is approached as a multi-systemic immunological disorder, a more physiologically comprehensive etiology may be uncovered.
Recommended Citation
Jeliazkova, Elena, "Inflamation and Depression" (2011). Theses & ETDs. 4522.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4522
Rights
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