Immune System Helps Combat Depression

An inflammatory autoimmune response within the CNS similar to one linked to neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) may play a role other than protecting against microbial invaders, protecting the mental health, said a new Yale-led study comparing immune system //cells the spinal fluid of MS patients and healthy subjects. The research published in the journal Science Immunology showed that gamma interferons (immune cell type) that induce immune system responses might also help prevent depression in healthy people.

"We were surprised that normal spinal fluid would be so interesting," said David Hafler, the William S. and Lois Stiles Edgerly Professor of Neurology, professor of immunobiology and senior author of the study.

A previous study in mice showed blocking gamma interferons, and the T cells can cause depression-like symptoms. Depression is a common side effect in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with a different type of interferon.

Researchers have found that T cells' characteristics in healthy people's spinal fluid share similarities with those of MS patients. They cannot replicate and cause the damaging inflammatory response seen in multiple sclerosis.

"These T cells serve another purpose, and we speculate that they may help preserve our mental health," Hafler said.

The research team is planning to explore how immune system responses in the central nervous system might affect psychiatric disorders such as depression.

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Source-Medindia