What is it about?
Social stress elevates serum antibody levels and induction of antibody responses in brain-draining lymph nodes resulting in severe and long-lasting social avoidance behavior in mice. In humans with MDD, serum antibodies correlate with symptoms of anhedonia. Depletion of B cells in invovled in the production of autoantibodies, prevents stress-induced social avoidance.
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Why is it important?
Patients with stress-related disorders, including depression, show high prevalence rates for autoimmune diseases. Our results suggest that stress causes the production of autoantibodies that target brain tissue and may explain autoimmune/depression comorbidity. Further, targeting autoimmunity may be a novel way to treat depression in affected individuals.
Perspectives
This was a fun project to work on with a great team of postdocs, students and collaborators. We were genuinely shocked by the degree to which stress can precipitate autoimmune responses in the body that seem to heavily target brain cells.
Scott Russo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Social stress induces autoimmune responses against the brain, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2305778120.
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