Role of interleukins in major depressive disorder: Understanding the pathophysiology and biomarker insights

Abstract

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a disease of complex biological origin, including much more than personality or a mere imbalance of neurotransmitters. More recently, there has been a growing appreciation that immune dysregulation, specifically interleukins, plays an important part in its pathophysiology. In addition to that, the function of these interleukins is not limited to neurotransmitter metabolism via the kynurenine pathway but may also affect neuroplasticity by means of activating the HPA axis due to decreased BDNF levels. Besides, interleukins can serve as markers of the severity and treatment efficacy of the disease. As for treatments based on targeting inflammation, they proved themselves very promising, especially when the disorder is treatment-resistant.