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Vaccination and Immunotherapy for Major Depression

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Major Depressive Disorder

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1305))

Abstract

Depression is a very common disease with increasing incidence resulting from complex interactions of genetic, environmental, and immunological processes. To this day, the etiopathogenesis and treatment of depression unfortunately seem to be stuck in the synaptic gap. Despite highly potent antidepressants, the treatment rate cannot reach 100%, the treatment resistant group cannot be eliminated, and relapse cannot be prevented. These problems lead researchers to further and different research to understand and treat psychopathology. Immune dysfunction and neuroinflammation have been one of the main issues that psychiatry has focused on in recent years and helps us to understand depression. Extraneuronal components of all neuropsychiatric disorders, especially depression, have begun to be revealed in detail thanks to a better understanding of the immune system and an increase in experimental and technological possibilities. There is increasing evidence of a causal relationship between the etiopathogenesis of major depression and low-level chronic neuroinflammation. In this article, the role of neuroinflammation in the etiopathogenesis of depression and the possibilities of vaccination and immunotherapy are discussed.

This manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and we have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, NP Brain Hospital, Saray Mah. Ahmet Tevfik İleri Cad. No: 18 PK:34768 Umraniye, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Alper Evrensel

  2. Vocational School of Health Services, Department of Medical Documentation and Secretariat, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Barış Önen Ünsalver

  3. Departments of Psychology and Philosophy, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mehmet Emin Ceylan

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Nevzat Tarhan

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  1. Alper Evrensel
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  4. Nevzat Tarhan
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  1. Department of Psychiatry, Korea University Ansan Hospital, College of Medicine, Ansan, Korea (Republic of)

    Yong-Ku Kim

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Evrensel, A., Ünsalver, B.Ö., Ceylan, M.E., Tarhan, N. (2021). Vaccination and Immunotherapy for Major Depression. In: Kim, YK. (eds) Major Depressive Disorder. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1305. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6044-0_25

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