Severe depression is associated with inflammation of the brain, according to a new study by Canadian researchers, published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. These findings have important implications for the development of new treatments for depression in the future.
Inflammation is the immune system’s natural response to infection or disease. The body often uses inflammation to protect themselves, for example, in case of twisting or breakage. The same principle applies to the brain.
- However.
- Excessive inflammation is unnecessary and can be harmful.
- Increasingly.
- Evidence suggests that inflammation can trigger some of the symptoms of depression.
- Such as decreased mood.
- Loss of appetite.
- And difficulty falling asleep.
What the new study is committed to looking for is whether inflammation is a driver of depression, regardless of another physical illness.
To study this hypothesis, the researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) to scan the brains of 20 patients with depression and 20 other participants who formed the control group.
In particular, the team closely measured the activation of microglia, immune system cells that play a key role in the brain’s inflammatory response.
Positron emission tomography scans showed significant inflammation in the brains of people with depression; inflammation was most severe in participants with the most severe depression; the brains of people suffering from clinical depression showed an inflammatory increase of 30%.
Previous studies had looked at markers of inflammation in the blood of people with depression, with the aim of identifying whether inflammation is a result of depression or something that worsens it.
In this regard, in 2012, a study conducted by researchers at Duke University Medical Center (California) found an association between the number of depressive episodes experienced by study participants and increased levels of a blood inflammation marker, called active C protein (CRP).
The researchers concluded that depression is more likely to contribute to the onset of inflammation than the other way around.
Researchers say the discovery provides the most compelling evidence to date of inflammation behavior in the brain during a severe depressive episode.
According to the researchers, this discovery has important implications for the development of new treatments for a group of people suffering from depression, as it provides a potential new goal to be able to reverse brain inflammation or play a more positive role in recovery to relieve symptoms.
Severe depression affects 4% of the general population; however, more than half of people with severe depression do not respond to antidepressants. Professionals in the field suggest that future studies should investigate the possible impact of anti-inflammatory drugs on symptoms of depression.
Current treatments are not dedicated to reducing inflammation; treating depression with anti-inflammatory drugs is a way to look to the future.
Depression is a complex disease because for it to happen you need the interaction of many factors, now, and thanks to this type of studies, we can add one more piece in the fight to finish putting together the puzzle of the disease.