小胶质细胞在抑郁症中的作用

The role of microglia in depression

抑郁症是一种常见的精神障碍,慢性心理应激是诱发抑郁症的主要原因之一,但其机制不明。慢性心理应激能激活中枢神经系统的小胶质细胞并分泌细胞因子,属于一种心理神经免疫性疾病。慢性的心理应激能够通过HPA轴激活小胶质细胞,增加体内的细胞因子水平。而细胞因子尤其是前炎性细胞因子又能进一步激活HPA轴,形成正反馈。抗抑郁药物能下调细胞因子水平,改善抑郁症状。

Depression is a common mental illness, but the mechanism is still not well understood, chronic psychological stress is believed to be a risk factor in depression. Chronic psychological stress may activate microglia cells to secret cytokine in the central nervous system and stimulate the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal（HPA）axis, and activate microglia cells in the central nervous system to secret the cytokines. Cytokines, especially the pro-inflammatory cytokines may exert a positive feedback by stimulating HPA axis.