Posted by Lorraine on October 25, 2001, at 11:51:03
In reply to Whoops, sorry to Lorraine (nm), posted by judy1 on October 24, 2001, at 19:40:18
There is a correlation between depression and immune system inflammatory response. Part of the question is the chicken and egg that you always have with correlational analysis--namely is the depression causing the immune system impairment or is immune system impairment causing the depression or is some other factor causing both? Here is the summary of the chapter:
"There is considerable evidence that MDE in general and TRD in particular, may be accompanied by an immune-inflammatory response, as demonstrated by (i) an acute phase response (APR); (ii) an increased production of cytokines such as IL-6; and, (iii) activation of lymphocytes (T cells). The role of such immune activation in the pathophysiology of MDE and TRD remains to be determined. Clinical strategies that modulate immune function might be explored in TRD, including treatment with steroid antagonists, protein blockers and antibodies to IL-6 or sIL-1R. In this context, patients receiving anti-IL-6 antibody as a therapeutic adjuvant for TRD should show striking reductions in serum APP levels. Recent qantidepressant drug trials in MDE with several CNS peptide blockers that alter immunoendocrine function have been undertaken, and these studies suggest that the immunoendocrine laboratory findings since the 1980s will be the clinical treatment of the near future".
poster:Lorraine
thread:67742
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011025/msgs/82276.html