Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Neuroinflammation and Schizophrenia

  • Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders (AK Pandurangi, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Psychiatry Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

There are longstanding, intriguing findings of immune dysfunction in schizophrenia. These findings span peripheral immune markers, especially cytokine abnormalities.

Recent Findings

This review describes recent genetic and immune marker studies and emergent treatment studies.

Summary

Collectively, this provides a synthesis and current appraisal of the neuroimmune hypothesis of schizophrenia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. •• Miyaoka T, Wake R, Hashioka S, Hayashida M, et al. Remission of psychosis in treatment-resistant schizophrenia following bone marrow transplantation: a case report. Front Psychiatry. 2017;8:174. This paper ties together translational research and clinical trials of autoinflammatory agents in schizophrenia.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Muller N. Inflammation in schizophrenia: pathogenetic aspects and therapeutic considerations. Schizophr Bull. 2018;44(5):973–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. •• Bauer ME, Teixeira AL. Inflammation in psychiatric disorders: what comes first? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019;1437(1):57–67. A current overview of the complexities of inflammatory findings in schizophrenia. Also addresses the vital distinction of “primary and secondary” effects.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pouget JG. The emerging immunogenetic architecture of schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2018;44(5):993–1004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gandal MJ, Haney JR, Parikshak NN, Leppa V, Ramaswami G, Hartl C, et al. Shared molecular neuropathology across major psychiatric disorders parallels polygenic overlap. Science. 2018;359(6376):693–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Caspi A, Moffitt TE. All for one and one for all: mental disorders in one dimension. Am J Psychiatry. 2018;175(9):831–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. •• Gandal MJ, Haney JR, Parikshak NN, Leppa V, Ramaswami G, Hartl C, et al. Shared molecular neuropathology across major psychiatric disorders parallels polygenic overlap. Science. 2018;359:693–7. A landmark study using modern-day neuropathology methodology in a large brain collection across several psychiatric disorders. The study pivots on the finding of convergence in the neurobiology of major psychiatric disorders.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Plana-Ripoll O, Pederson CB, Holtz Y, Benros ME, Dalsgaard S, de Jonge P, et al. Exploring comorbidity within mental disorders among a Danish national population. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76:259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. • Hyman S. New evidence for shared risk architecture of mental disorders. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019. A thoughtful appraisal of the field by Dr. Hyman, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

  10. Oviedo-Salcedo T, de Witte L, Kumpfel T, Kahn RS, Falkai P, Eichhorn P, et al. Absence of cerebrospinal fluid antineuronal antibodies in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Br J Psychiatry. 2018;212:318–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dahan S, Bragazzi NL, Yogev A, Bar-Gad M, Barak V, Amital H, et al. The relationship between serum cytokine levels and degree of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 2018;268:467–72.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kelly DL, Demyanovich HK, Eaton WW, Cascella N, Jackson J, Fasano A, et al. Anti gliadin antibodies (AGA IgG) related to peripheral inflammation in schizophrenia. Brain Behav Immun. 2018;69:57–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Melbourne JK, Chase KA, Feiner B, Rosen C, Sharma RP. Long non-coding and endogenous retroviral RNA levels are associated with proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in peripheral blood cells: implications for schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 2018;262:465–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Čiháková D, Eaton W, Talor M, Demyanovich H, Rodriguez K, Feldman S. Gliadin-related antibodies in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2018;195:585–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. García-Álvarez L, Caso JR, García-Portilla MP, de la Fuente-Tomás L, et al. Regulation of inflammatory pathways in schizophrenia: a comparative study with bipolar disorder and healthy controls. Eur Psychiatry. 2018;47:50–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Misiak B, Stańczykiewicz B, Kotowicz K, Rybakowski JK, Samochowiec J, Frydecka D. Cytokines and C-reactive protein alterations with respect to cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a systematic review. Schizophr Res. 2018;192:16–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Jeffries C, Perkins D, Fournier M, Do K, et al. Networks of blood proteins in the neuroimmunology of schizophrenia. Transl Psychiatry. 2018;8:112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. •• Deakin B, Suckling J, Barnes TRE, Byrne K, et al. The benefit of minocycline on negative symptoms of schizophrenia in patients with recent-onset psychosis (BeneMin): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(11):885–94. Minocycline is a modulatory drug in inflammation. Based upon prior literature, this multicenter British study is a major contribution and does not endorse the use of minocycline as an augmentation strategy in schizophrenia.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhang L, Zheng H, Wu R, Zhu F, Kosten TR, Zhang XY, et al. Minocycline adjunctive treatment to risperidone for negative symptoms in schizophrenia: association with pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2018;85:69–76.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Miller BJ, Buckley PF. The case for adjunctive monoclonal antibody immunotherapy in schizophrenia. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2016;39(2):187–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Girgis RR, Ciarleglio A, Choo T, Haynes G, Bathon JM, Cremers S, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 receptor antibody, for residual symptoms in schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;43(6):1317–23.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Bhugra D, Tasman A, Pathare S, Priebe S, Smith S, Torous J, et al. The WPA-Lancet Psychiatry Commission on the future of psychiatry. Lancet Psychiatry. 2017;4(10):775–818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter F. Buckley.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Peter F. Buckley is a co-investigator on research grants supporting the study of immunologic drugs for schizophrenia for the Stanley Foundation and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Buckley, P.F. Neuroinflammation and Schizophrenia. Curr Psychiatry Rep 21, 72 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1050-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1050-z

Keywords

Navigation