Inflaming sex differences in mood disorders

Men and women often experience different symptoms or rates of occurrence for a variety of mood disorders. Many of the symptoms of mood disorders overlap with autoimmune disorders, which also have a higher prevalence in women. There is a growing interest in exploring the immune system to provide biom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuropsychopharmacology (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2019-01, Vol.44 (1), p.184-199
Main Authors: Rainville, Jennifer R, Hodes, Georgia E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Autoimmune diseases
Bipolar disorder
Emotional disorders
Female
Gender differences
Humans
Immune system
Inflammation - immunology
Male
Mood
Mood disorders
Mood Disorders - immunology
Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews
Sex Characteristics
Sex differences
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Summary:Men and women often experience different symptoms or rates of occurrence for a variety of mood disorders. Many of the symptoms of mood disorders overlap with autoimmune disorders, which also have a higher prevalence in women. There is a growing interest in exploring the immune system to provide biomarkers for diagnosis of mood disorders, along with new targets for developing treatments. This review examines known sex differences in the immune system and their relationship to mood disorders. We focus on immune alterations associated with unipolar depression, bipolar depression, and anxiety disorders. We describe work from both basic and clinical research examining potential immune mechanisms thought to contribute to stress susceptibility and associated mood disorders. We propose that sex and age are important, intertwined factors that need to be included in future experimental designs if we are going to harness the power of the immune system to develop a new wave of treatments for mood disorders.
ISSN:0893-133X
1740-634X
1740-634X
DOI:10.1038/s41386-018-0124-7