inflammation

A review of 200 studies on depression and inflammation has concluded that depression and inflammation fuel one another, with inflammation playing a key role in the development of depression in some people, and depression priming greater physiological responses to stress.

Moreover, depression that is caused by chronic inflammation is resistant to traditional therapy methods. However, it is more responsive to activities such as yoga, meditation, omega-3 fatty acids, NSAIDS and exercise.

The review indicates that treatment for depression needs to consider its pathway. The researcher suggests that chronic inflammation is most common in individuals who have experienced stress in their lives, including lower socio-economic status or those who experienced abuse or neglect as children. Other contributing factors are a high-fat diet and high body mass index.

If inflammation is a significant factor, it needs to be treated in tandem with the depression.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/ru-icf121815.php

Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Derry, H. M., & Fagundes, C. P. (2015). Inflammation: Depression Fans the Flames and Feasts on the Heat. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(11), 1075–1091. http://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15020152

Stress, including sleep disturbance, is a major contributor to inflammation in the body. Insomnia is associated with increased risk for depression, medical comorbidities, and mortality.

A study involving 123 older adults (55+) with insomnia randomly assigned them to one of 3 types of classes: cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, tai chi, or a sleep seminar (the control condition).

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia reduced insomnia symptoms and levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein, and reversed activation of molecular inflammatory signaling pathways. These benefits were maintained for 16 months.

Tai chi also reduced inflammation, reducing the expression of inflammation at the cellular level and reversing activation of inflammatory signaling pathways. It marginally reduced levels of C-reactive protein. Again, these benefits were maintained for 16 months.

Those participants assigned to the sleep seminar classes showed no significant changes in inflammatory markers, as expected.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/e-bsa110515.php

Irwin, M. R., Olmstead, R., Breen, E. C., Witarama, T., Carrillo, C., Sadeghi, N., … Cole, S. (2015). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Tai Chi Reverse Cellular and Genomic Markers of Inflammation in Late-Life Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Biological Psychiatry, 78(10), 721–729. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.01.010

Two experiments involving more than 200 young adults have indicated that the extent to which they experienced positive emotions (such as amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, joy, love and pride) was linked to lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In particular, awe, wonder and amazement, were associated with the lowest levels of the cytokine, Interleukin 6 (a marker of inflammation).

High levels of cytokines are associated with poorer health and such disorders as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and even Alzheimer’s disease and clinical depression.

It's suggested that awe is associated with curiosity and a desire to explore, behaviors which are the opposite of those found during inflammation, where individuals typically withdraw from others.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/uoc--ana020315.php

Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D. (2015). Positive affect and markers of inflammation: Discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines. Emotion, 15(2), 129–133. http://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000033

A study has revealed that the immune system has a seasonal cycle, in which its activity is boosted during the winter and relaxes during the summer. While the winter increase in immune defences presumably helps us stave off infections, it also raises the risk of harmful inflammation, effectively lowering the threshold for heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and even some psychiatric conditions. This may explain why deaths from conditions ranging from heart attacks to diabetes and schizophrenia increase in winter.

The study used blood samples from more than 16,000 people living in both the northern and southern hemisphere

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/12/winter-immune-boost-may-actually-cause-deaths-study-suggests

Dopico, X. C., Evangelou, M., Ferreira, R. C., Guo, H., Pekalski, M. L., Smyth, D. J., … Todd, J. A. (2015). Widespread seasonal gene expression reveals annual differences in human immunity and physiology. Nature Communications, 6, 7000. http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8000

Anecdotal and scientific evidence suggests curcumin, a compound found in turmeric, promotes health because it lowers inflammation. However, it is not absorbed well by the body. Most curcumin in food or supplements stays in the gastrointestinal tract, and any portion that's absorbed is metabolized quickly.

A new study thinks they've come up with a better and more effective way to deliver curcumin, and in so doing has demonstrated how it works. Curcumin powder was mixed with castor oil and polyethylene glycol, allowing it to dissolve and be more easily absorbed by the gut to enter the bloodstream and tissues.

When this was given to mice who had been injected with an extract that stimulates an immune reaction, a key protein that triggers an immune response was blocked. The mice given plain curcumin, on the other hand, showed the same protein actively triggering an immune response.

The emulsified curcumin also stopped recruitment of macrophages. Inflammation triggered by overactive macrophages has been linked to cardiovascular disease, disorders that accompany obesity, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and lupus-related nephritis.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-11/osu-nra110614.php

A rat study has demonstrated that cytokines (immune system signaling molecules) impair communication among neurons in the hippocampus. The increased cytokine levels affected complex discrimination memory, that is, the ability to differentiate among generally similar experiences.

In the study, the rats were exposed to two similar environments, one of which was associated with a mild foot shock, making them reluctant to enter that environment. When some rats were then given a low dose of a bacterial agent to induce a neuroinflammatory response, leading to cytokine release in the brain, they became no longer able to distinguish between the two environments.

Analysis of changes in the activity patterns of hippocampal neurons suggested that cytokines impaired recall by disrupting the function of specific neuron circuits, taking the neural network that had learned the discrimination back to the state it had been before learning took place.

The finding may help explain "chemobrain", and suggests that an intervention aimed at reducing inflammation might be effective approach.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-09/uoc--bid091114.php

Czerniawski, J., & Guzowski, J. F. (2014). Acute Neuroinflammation Impairs Context Discrimination Memory and Disrupts Pattern Separation Processes in Hippocampus. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(37), 12470–12480. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0542-14.2014

A Finnish study involving 2,570 middle-aged men (42-60) has found that men sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 10 hours suffer from low-grade inflammation (indicated by levels of C-reactive protein) more often than persons sleeping 7-8 hours per night. Additionally, the serum levels of zinc, and the zinc/copper ration, were lowest in those sleeping less than 6 hours, while copper levels were highest in those sleeping more than 10 hours.

It has been suggested that high serum copper concentration is linked to pro-oxidative stress, found in many chronic diseases.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/uoef-lsa091415.php

Luojus, M. K., Lehto, S. M., Tolmunen, T., Elomaa, A.-P., & Kauhanen, J. (2015). Serum copper, zinc and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in short and long sleep duration in ageing men. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, 32, 177–182. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2015.07.008

A small clinical trial involving 49 older adults (average age 66) found that the group who were given a standardized mindfulness meditation program had greater improvement in sleep score than the group given a sleep hygiene education program. They also showed greater improvement on secondary measures of insomnia symptoms, depression symptoms, fatigue interference and fatigue severity. However, differences between the groups were not seen for anxiety, stress or inflammatory signaling, the last of which declined in both groups.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/tjnj-mma021215.php

Black DS, O’Reilly GA, Olmstead R, Breen EC, Irwin MR. Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(4):494-501. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081.

Mouse and human immune cells have demonstrated that a compound produced by the body when dieting or fasting (β-hydroxybutyrate — BHB) directly inhibits a protein, NLRP3, which is part of a complex set of proteins that drive the inflammatory response in several disorders, including autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, and autoinflammatory disorders.

BHB is produced in response to fasting, high-intensity exercise, caloric restriction, or consumption of the low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet.

The finding helps explain why calorie restriction reduces inflammation.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/yu-amo021315.php

Youm, Y.-H., Nguyen, K. Y., Grant, R. W., Goldberg, E. L., Bodogai, M., Kim, D., … Dixit, V. D. (2015). The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory disease. Nature Medicine, 21(3), 263–269. http://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3804