Main description:

Psychiatric disorders are one of the most dramatic burdens for humankind. The role of immune dysfunction in the pathophysiology of these disorders has emerged during the last years, because there has been tremendous progress in psychoneuroimmunological research. Many results are presented here by pioneers in the field. The book addresses various effects of the immune system on the pathophysiology and course of psychiatric disorders and highlights the possible future impact on treatment decisions of various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and depression. The contributions cover the role of in utero immune challenges on the development of schizophrenia, the role of infections, and autoimmune diseases and mild immune activation in the development of depression and schizophrenia, the influence of immune responses in other disorders such as Tourette's, Alzheimer's, and OCD, the connections between mental and physical pain as well as between anti-inflammatory and antipsychotic drugs.

Contents:

Part I. Basic Science.- 1: Animal models based on immune challenge: the links to brain changes and psychiatric disorders.- 2: The prenatal immune activation model for schizophrenia and the role of stress in puberty.- 3: Rodent models of stress induced depression: the link between stress and immune system related changes.- 4. Experimental Human Endotoxemia, Sickness Behavior and Neuropsychiatric Diseases.- Part II. Translational Medicine.- 5. Mild encephalitis theory of psychiatric disorders.- 6. The role of Infection and autoimmune disorders for schizophrenia and depression: Consequences from a large-scale epidemiological study.- 7. Exposure to microorganisms and adult psychiatric disorders: proofs for causal relationship.- 8. Depression: From activation of immune-inflammatory pathways to oxidative-stress-induced autoimmune responses and neuroprogression.- 9. Immune system related markers changes in childhood neuropsychiatric disorders: cause and consequence.- 10. Cytokines and related metabolic biomarkers in adult neuropsychiatric disorders: possible roles in clinical application.- 11. Immune system changes play a role in the development of the metabolic syndrome in psychiatric disorders.- 12. The activation of microglia in severe neuropsychiatric disorders: Focus on infectious mechanisms and PET imaging.- 13. The role of inflammation in Tourette's Syndrome.- 14. The role of inflammation in Autism.- 15. The role of inflammation in Alzheimer's Disease.- Part III: Therapeutic application.- 16. Antidepressants: influence on immune system related parameters.- 17. Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition in management of depression and schizophrenia.- 18. Poly-unsaturated fatty-acids in management of adult psychiatric disorders.