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SUMMARY:POSTPONED - Role of Inflammation in Depression: exciting therapeut
 ic opportunity or fake news? - Dr Golam Khandaker\, Lead\, Inflammation an
 d Psychiatry Research Group\, Department of Psychiatry\, University of Cam
 bridge
DTSTART:20191031T123000Z
DTEND:20191031T133000Z
UID:TALK131059@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. \n\nCurrently\, a number of RCTs are testing the efficacy of novel 
 anti-inflammatory drugs for patients with depression. However\, there are 
 key unanswered questions both mechanistic and clinical. Is inflammation a 
 causal risk factor for depression? Because\, elevated inflammatory markers
  could be a result of illness/associated stress (i.e. reverse causality) o
 r confounding by life style and other known/unknown factors. What are the 
 features of immune-related depression? Could anti-inflammatory treatment b
 e used to treat depressive symptoms? If so\, which patients are likely to 
 benefit? How does peripheral inflammation communicate with the brain to in
 fluence mood\, cognition and behaviour?\n\nDr Khandaker will present curre
 nt evidence on these issues. He will discuss evidence from population-base
 d studies and Mendelian randomization genetic analysis suggesting that rev
 erse causality and residual confounding are unlikely to fully explain prev
 iously reported associations of depression with IL-6\, CRP\, and that the 
 IL-6/IL-6R pathway could be causally linked with depression. He will prese
 nt data from systematic reviews and meta-analysis on the effect of anti-in
 flammatory drugs\, including monoclonal antibodies (mAb)\, on depressive s
 ymptoms. These studies have informed an ongoing proof-of-concept double bl
 ind RCT of tocilizumab (anti-IL-6R mAb) for patients with depression\, the
  Insight study (ISRCTN16942542)\, which will be discussed\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, Herchel Smith Building\, Forvie Site.
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