Psychiatria Danubina, Vol. 34 No. 4, 2022.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2022.623
CERTAIN ASPECTS OF IMMUNOPYCHIATRY
James Paul Pandarakalam
; Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust & AFG Hospitals, Lea Court Treatment & Recovery Centre, Dallam, Cheshire, Warrington, United Kingdom
Abstract
Immunopsychiatry is based on the assumption that schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and major depressive disorders are related
with atypical immune reactions or inflammatory processes. It has also been suggested that the neurotoxic effects of COVID-19 due to
the perverted autoimmune reaction could offer fresh acumens into psychotic process. Even acute psychotic symptoms have a subtle
pre-psychotic phase and unless treatments are aimed at this preceding phase, newer therapies are not going to achieve their targets.
Identifying biosignatures of psychotic disorders lead to better understanding of the etiological mechanism involved in such disorders
and aid early diagnostic assays. Interestingly, the search for biomarkers also stimulates new experimental treatment strategies as
evidenced by the experiments of newer immunological therapies for psychotic disorders. Characterizing biosignatures are thought to
play a significant role in the early detection, treatment, and implementation of preventive strategies in psychotic disorders. The
search for identifying biosignatures should go hand in hand with newer experimental therapies for psychotic disorders for the benefit
of introducing treatments at an early stage of psychosis development. The identification of biomarkers may lead to a shift from
symptom based diagnostic category into subtypes based on immunological alterations and brain biology and such a change might
have an advantage to make more precise diagnosis aiding better treatment. The field of immunopsychiatry requires more research to
put their findings in context.
Keywords
biomarkers; autoimmunity; biosignatures; psychosis; phenotypes
Hrčak ID:
290956
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2022.
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