Neuroimmunology

Question 1

What is the main takeaway from the lecture?

Answer 1

Autoimmune response to infection is associated with a transdiagnostic biological vulnerability to psychiatric disorders (mainly stress disorders)

Question 2

What could be the cause behind the observed correlations between stress disorders and autoimmune diseases?

Answer 2

Researchers postulate that the cause could be a shared gene, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are conducted to reveal the epigenetics behind the two variables.

Question 3

What are the three main axes of epigenetics of psychiatric disorders?

Answer 3

1. Synapses
2. Histone methylation - the modification of certain amino acids in a histone protein by the addition of one, two, or three methyl groups (DNA is wound around histones)
3. Immune and neurotrophic pathways

Question 4

What are the two biological agents implicated in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders?

Answer 4

1. The brain (duh)
2. The immune system

Question 5

How can we potentially study the link between autoimmune responses and mood disorders?

Answer 5

1. Animal models
2. Quasi-experimental human studies

Question 6

Which observations does injecting human subjects with low-dose LPS result in?

Answer 6

It activates the autoimmune response, which is followed by 6-8 hours of subjectively experienced depressed mood

Question 7

What could be the evolutionary advantage underlying the strong biological link between depression and autoimmune activation?

Answer 7

Since mice and humans (main subjects of research in this field) are social animals, so social withdrawal (a characteristic behavioral response seen in depression) in the case of viral infections can be adaptive in preserving the kin.

Question 8

T/F: MDD patients have abnormalities with their immune molecules in their blood.

Answer 8

True! More specifically, on a group level, patients with MDD have increased levels of circulating cytokines (proteins that are made by certain immune and non-immune cells and have an effect on the immune system).

Question 9

What is the immune phenotype associated with MDD?

Answer 9

The cells in the innate immune system tend to be more activated in depression and the adaptive immune system tend to be under-activated.

Question 10

Following from the basic premise of the lecture, what type of drugs/treatment could be promising for treatment of depression?

Answer 10

Drugs to modulate the immune system (e.g., stereoids), can promise some benefits for the treatment of MDD.
Also, anti-inflammatory therapies might be effective to treat treatment-resistant depression.

Question 11

What is the main function of cytokines?

Answer 11

When released, they signal the immune system to do its job; they affect the growth of cells that help the body’s immune and inflammation responses.