Novel insights into the mechanisms underlying depression-associated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Publication date: Available online 5 March 2019Source: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryAuthor(s): Eduardo Duarte-Silva, Danielle Macedo, Michael Maes, Christina Alves PeixotoAbstractMultiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by neuroinflammation, demyelination and neuroaxonal degeneration affecting>2 million people around the world. MS is often accompanied by psychiatric comorbidities such as major depressive disorder (MDD), which presents a lifetime prevalence of around 50% in MS patients. Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model extensively used to study MS. EAE mimics the autoimmune nature of MS, as well as its inflammatory and demyelinating mechanisms also presenting predictive validity. There are important similarities between EAE and MS-associated depression (MSD). The mechanisms shared by these disorders include peripheral inflammation, neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunctions, oxidative stress, nitrosative stress, lowered antioxidant defenses, increased bacterial translocation into the systemic circulation, and microglial pathology. Although the role of the immune-inflammatory system in MDD has been established in the 1990's, only few studies addressed immune pathways as a major determinant of depressive-like behavior in EAE. Therefore, in the present study we aimed at revising the current literature on EAE as an animal model to investigate the comorbidity between MS and MDD. In ...
Source: Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research