IUBio

Cytokines and Depression

John H. johnh at faraway.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk
Mon Dec 22 00:26:41 EST 2003



Stress and cytokine levels underpin a provocative theory of depression
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2003/aug/feature_030825.html
...
Maes helped to establish the notion that overexpression of proinflammatory
cytokines, in particular, can disrupt the stress response system's primary
elements: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the
monoaminergic system, including the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine.
Among the stressors that can overstimulate these proinflammatory cytokines
are infections and melancholy. Although the pathophysiology of depression
remains unclear, Maes is among those researchers who assert that it is a
psychoneuroimmunological disorder.
....





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