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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by firemonkey on January 3, 2013, at 2:04:18
Results from a French study support an association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and bipolar disorder (BD).
Ryad Tamouza (University Paris Diderot) and team found that patients with BD were more than twice as likely to test positive for T. gondii antibodies as mentally healthy individuals.
The magnitude of the association was similar to that previously observed in patients with schizophrenia, note the researchers in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
"If confirmed, the herein reported association between BD and T. gondii will have major impact on diagnostic and treatment of bipolar patients," they comment.
The team studied 110 BD patients and 106 mentally healthy controls who supplied blood samples for assessment of T. gondii antibodies and interleukin 6 (IL-6) transcript levels - a marker of inflammation.
There were no significant differences between the groups regarding gender distribution, ethnicity, education level, working status, season of birth, rural/urban dwelling, and contact with a cat during childhood.
Overall, 76.9% of BD patients tested positive for immunoglobulin G antibodies to T. gondii compared with 48.2% of controls.
The high prevalence of T. gondii antibodies in both the BD patients and controls reflects high infection rates reported in the general population of France - a country with an increased consumption of high-risk foods, such as uncooked meat and unpasteurized cheese.
After accounting for age, the researchers found that BD patients were significantly more likely to test positive for T. gondii antibodies than controls, at an odds ratio (OR) of 2.17.
"This OR is close to the values observed for schizophrenia patients (OR=2.70-2.73)," writes the team.
There was no significant association between T. gondii status and IL-6 transcript levels, however.
Tamouza et al conclude: "Although our results are to be interpreted with caution because of the small sample size, they do raise the possibilities of developing therapeutic strategies that take into account the immuno-inflammatory and serological status of BD patients in the future."
Posted by SLS on January 3, 2013, at 7:37:50
In reply to T. gondii infection linked to bipolar risk, posted by firemonkey on January 3, 2013, at 2:04:18
Interesting.
Depressive disorders (MDD and BD) actually *suppress* the immune response to infection. It is not unexpected that someone with these illnesses should be less resistant to T. gondii. The "good" immune processes are reduced while the "bad" immune processes (inflammation) are increased. The whole immune system suffers from dysregulation in depressive disorders.
- Scott
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20955778Immune suppression and immune activation in depression.
Blume J, Douglas SD, Evans DL.
SourceDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 423 Guardian Drive, 305 Blockley Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
AbstractDepression has been characterized as a disorder of both immune suppression and immune activation. Markers of impaired cellular immunity (decreased natural killer cell cytotoxicity) and inflammation (elevated IL-6, TNFα, and CRP) have been associated with depression. These immunological markers have been associated with other medical illnesses, suggesting that immune dysregulation may be a central feature common to both depression and to its frequent medical comorbidities. Yet the significant associations of findings of both immune suppression and immune activation with depression raise questions concerning the relationship between these two classes of immunological observations. Depressed populations are heterogeneous groups, and there may be differences in the immune profiles of populations that are more narrowly defined in terms of symptom profile and/or demographic features. There have been few reports concurrently investigating markers of immune suppression and immune activation in the same depressed individuals. An emerging pre-clinical literature suggests that chronic inflammation may directly contribute to the pathophysiology of immune suppression in the context of illnesses such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. This literature provides us with specific immunoregulatory mechanisms mediating these relationships that could also explain differences in immune disturbances between subsets of depressed individuals We propose a research agenda emphasizing the assessment of these immunoregulatory mechanisms in large samples of depressed subjects as a means to define the relationships among immune findings (suppression and/or activation) within the same depressed individuals and to characterize subsets of depressed subjects based on shared immune profiles. Such a program of research, building on and integrating our knowledge of the psychoneuroimmunology of depression, could lead to innovation in the assessment and treatment of depression and its medical comorbidities.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Phillipa on January 3, 2013, at 10:08:41
In reply to Re: T. gondii infection linked to bipolar risk » firemonkey, posted by SLS on January 3, 2013, at 7:37:50
So inflammation and infection is linked more to bipolar illness? Would explain the reason minocycline is helping bipolar and doesn't seen to help anxiety & depression ? Phillipa
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