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SUMMARY:Role of Inflammation in Depression: exciting therapeutic opportuni
 ty or fake news? - Dr Golam Khandaker\, Lead\, Inflammation and Psychiatry
  Research Group\, Department of Psychiatry\, University of Cambridge  
DTSTART:20200514T113000Z
DTEND:20200514T123000Z
UID:TALK140470@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Muzaffer Kaser
DESCRIPTION:The immune system\, particularly low-grade systemic inflammati
 on\, has been implicated in pathogenesis of depression and schizophrenia. 
 Inflammation is thought to be a clinically relevant phenotype\, as evidenc
 ed by three widely replicated findings: (1) concentrations of acute phase 
 proteins (e.g. C-reactive protein or CRP) and inflammatory cytokines (e.g.
  interleukin 6 or IL-6) are elevated during acute depression\; (2) these e
 levated levels tend to normalise after recovery\; (3) patients with treatm
 ent resistant depression continue to display evidence of low-grade inflamm
 ation. \nCurrently\, a number of RCTs are testing the efficacy of novel an
 ti-inflammatory drugs for patients with depression. However\, there are ke
 y unanswered questions both mechanistic and clinical. Is inflammation a ca
 usal risk factor for depression? Because\, elevated inflammatory markers c
 ould be a result of illness/associated stress (i.e. reverse causality) or 
 confounding by life style and other known/unknown factors. What are the fe
 atures of immune-related depression? Could anti-inflammatory treatment be 
 used to treat depressive symptoms? If so\, which patients are likely to be
 nefit? How does peripheral inflammation communicate with the brain to infl
 uence mood\, cognition and behaviour?\nDr Khandaker will present current e
 vidence on these issues. He will discuss evidence from population-based st
 udies and Mendelian randomization genetic analysis suggesting that reverse
  causality and residual confounding are unlikely to fully explain previous
 ly reported associations of depression with IL-6\, CRP\, and that the IL-6
 /IL-6R pathway could be causally linked with depression. He will present d
 ata from systematic reviews and meta-analysis on the effect of anti-inflam
 matory drugs\, including monoclonal antibodies (mAb)\, on depressive sympt
 oms. These studies have informed an ongoing proof-of-concept double blind 
 RCT of tocilizumab (anti-IL-6R mAb) for patients with depression\, the Ins
 ight study (ISRCTN16942542)\, which will be discussed.\n
LOCATION: Webinar  (via Zoom online)- link to follow
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