Cytokines, Stress, and Depression

Cytokines had been characterized in the early eighties as communication mole­ cules between immune cells, and between immunocytes and other peripheral cells, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. They play a key role in the regulation of the immune response and the coordination of the host response to infection. Based on these biological properties, nobody would have predicted that one decade later cytokines would burst upon neurosciences and permeate into several avenues of current research. In neurology, the connection between cytokines and inflammation, and the demonstration of a pivotal role of some of these molecules in cell death by apoptosis, prompted the investigation of their involvement in several neurological diseases involving an inflammatory component, including multiple sclerosis, brain trauma, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. This movement started in the late eighties, and the corresponding field of research, known as neuroimmunology, is presently booming. In psychiatry, however, the relationship between cytokines and mental disorders was much less evident and took longer to materialize. The first indication that cytokines might be involved in psychopathology came from cancerology and internal medicine.

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List of Contributors. Preface; R. Dantzer, et al. Section I: Depression and Immunity. 1. Immune Correlates of Depression; M. Irwin. 2. Major Depression and Activation of the Inflammatory Response System; M. Maes. 3. Cytokine Production in Depressed Patients; A. Seidel, et al. 4. Indicators of Immune Activation in Depressed Patients; A. Sluzewska. Section II: Brain Effects of Cytokines. 5. Mood and Cognitive Disorders in Cancer Patients Receiving Cytokine Therapy; C.A. Meyers. 6. Mechanisms of the Behavioural Effects of Cytokines; R. Dantzer, et al. 7. Effects of Cytokines on Glucocorticoid Receptor Expression and Function: Glucocorticoid Resistance and Relevance to Depression; A.H. Miller, et al. 8. Effects of Cytokines on Cerebral Neurotransmission: Comparison with the Effects of Stress; A.J. Dunn, et al. 9. Inflammation and Brain Function under Basal Conditions and During Long-Term Elevation of Brain Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Levels; A.C.E. Linthorst, J.M.H.M. Reul. Section III: Effects of Stress on Cytokine Production and Actions. 10. Dynamic Regulation of Proinflammatory Cytokines; L.R. Watkins, et al. 11. Cross-Sensitization between Immune and Non Immune Stressors: A Role in the Etiology of Depression? F.J.H. Tilders, E.D. Schmidt. Section IV: Effects of Cytokines and Cytokine Antagonists in Animal Models of Depression. 12. Anhedonic and Anxiogenic Effects of Cytokine Exposure; H. Anisman, Z. Merali. 13. Stress, Learned Helplessness, and Brain Interleukin-1&bgr;; S.F. Maier, et al. 14. Stress, Depression and the Role of Cytokines; B.E. Leonard, C. Song. Section V: Effects of Antidepressants on Cytokine Production and Action. 15. Is there Evidence for an Effect of Antidepressant Drugs on Immune Function? P.J. Neveu, N. Castanon. 16. Cytokines, `Depression Due to a General Medical Condition', and Antidepressant Drugs; R. Yirmiya, et al. 17. Cytokines, Stress and Depression: Conclusion and Perspectives; R. Dantzer, et al. Index.