Il ruolo dell'infiammazione nella depressione: dalla patogenesi alla risposta al trattamento

Abstract

In the last decades, research has demonstrated a higher activation of the immune system in patients affected by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and anxiety. However, it is not clear whether these pathologies showed distinct inflammatory profiles and if these profiles could help to develop specially focused therapies. The efficacy of anti-inflammatory agents in the case of depression is inconsistent, and it shows evidence only in some subcategories of patients. In particular, anti-inflammatory drugs seem to significantly improve the depressive symptomatology in patients with high levels of plasma or serum inflammatory molecules. On the other hand, the efficacy of pharmacological therapies appears to correlate with a reduction in the level of inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, as shown by the Authors’ research group and by the GENDEP European project, specific inflammatory biomarkers could help to predict the efficacy of pharmacological therapies, identify whether patients will respond or not to the conventional treatment for depression and develop adjuvant therapies.