Main description:

In recent years, a dedicated effort has been made to understand the immune dysfunction that is associated with major psychiatric disorders. The expanding knowledge of the immune system as a major homeostatic system has been very helpful in indicating new potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets to reduce the burden of psychiatric disorders. Indeed, immune cells, their secreted molecules, and cell signalling events are highly promising. Yet, the literature on
immunology of psychiatric disorders is still dispersed, and only a few attempts have been made to consolidate the current knowledge in this expanding area.

This book assembles and presents the available data on the immune/inflammatory dysfunction in psychiatric disorders, indicating the potential of immune mechanisms as either biomarkers or therapeutic targets, as well as discussing the challenges ahead of incorporating this knowledge into clinical practice. An international team of senior experts in the field review all psychiatric disorders in order to provide an integrated, in-depth understanding of the role of immune changes in psychiatric
diseases for mental health clinicians as well as for researchers in immunology, psychiatry, neurology, and pharmacology.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Overview of the immune system
Chapter 2: Immune-neuropharmacology
Chapter 3: Immune mechanisms affecting CNS functioning
Chapter 4: Immune mechanisms and CNS development
Chapter 5: The immune system as a sensor capable to affect other homeostatic systems
Chapter 6: Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Chapter 7: Investigating immune changes in the psychiatric patient
Chapter 8: Immune dysfunction: a common feature of major psychiatric disorders?
Chapter 9: Immunology of substance use disorder
Chapter 10: Immune system dysregulation and schizophrenia
Chapter 11: Depression as a neuroinflammatory condition
Chapter 12: Immunology of bipolar disorder
Chapter 13: immunology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Chapter 14: Immunology of eating disorders
Chapter 15: Immunology of late-life psychiatric disorders and dementias
Chapter 16: Immune-based biomarkers and therapies in psychiatry: future prospects