Detectable connection between inflammation and depression

Depression caused by special inflammatory messenger?
Depression is a very serious complaint that should be urgently treated by a specialist to avoid serious social problems or even the suicide of those affected. The concrete causes of the disease remain until today largely unclear. Apparently certain messenger substances - so-called cytokines - play an important role here, according to a recent study by German researchers. Their findings could also be used to develop new therapeutic approaches, the scientists hope.

The research team led by Professor Harald Engler from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and Professor Manfred Schedlowski from the Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Immunology at the University Hospital Essen (UK Essen) has shown in the current study that the cytokines are involved in the Development of depression found. A blockage of the messenger substance could also be used for therapeutic purposes. The researchers have published the results of the study in the journal "Molecuar Psychiatry".

Depression may be related to inflammation due to the messenger IL-6. (Image: chajamp / fotolia.com)

What significance does the messenger have in depression??
According to the researchers, around 4 million people currently suffer from depression in Germany. The causes of the disease are still insufficiently understood. Although it has long been suspected that the immune messengers (cytokines) could be involved in the development of depressive disorders, but lacked the scientific evidence so far. The researchers of the UDE and the UK Essen, therefore, in their study, the question of what role the messengers play in the development of depression.

Messenger substance is released during inflammation
The cytokines are released during an inflammation of the activated immune cells, explain the researchers. This apparently also has far-reaching consequences in the brain of those affected. The scientists have now found for the first time important experimental evidence for the importance of immune messengers in the development of depression. In their interdisciplinary study, they were able to demonstrate for the first time in humans that the concentration of the immune messenger interleukin-6 (IL-6) increases in the blood as well as in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during acute inflammation.

IL-6 concentration also increased in the brain
Professor Engler and Professor Schedlowski further report that the increase in IL-6 in cerebrospinal fluid was significantly related to the extent of the depressive symptoms that respondents described in interviews. "Took the concentration, the symptoms also increased," the statement of the scientists. They suspect that IL-6 enters the brain via the bloodstream and can cause depression by modulating neuronal processes. The messenger substance would therefore have a significant influence on the disease and the latter could be directly related to inflammatory processes in the body.

New therapeutic options?
Although further investigations still need to identify the exact transport mechanisms through which IL-6 enters the brain, current findings suggest new ways to treat depressive disorders, the researchers concluded. In their view, the messenger substance may be selectively blocked to counteract depression. (Fp)