Caspase activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with depression and anxiety of different severity

Abstract

Though borderline psychiatric disorders (BPD) are quite common diseases, their pathogenesis remains obscure. Data from several groups and our previous results suggest that the pathological changes are typical not only for brain cells, but also for cells of the immune system. One of the evident illustrations of immune and nervous systems relationship in pathogenesis of mental diseases is the death of PBMC occurring in patients with depression. We have shown previously that activities of the caspases increase in some types of BPD. In this study, we have investigated caspase activities in PBMC of patients with BPD of different severity. It has been found that in severe depressive disorder activities of caspases were reduced either as compared to healthy controls or to patients with depression lesser severity. In contrast, in patients with severe anxiety activities of caspases were higher than in both control and patients with less severe forms of anxiety disorders. Thus, the study of caspase activity in PBMC makes it possible to differentiate between severe and mild forms of BPD.