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One of the most compelling hypotheses in scientific research today is the growing belief that psychiatric disorders are potentially linked to irregularities in the immune system. A team from King's College London has added substantial weight to this idea with a mbadive meta-badysis confirming that people with autoimmune diseases are more likely to develop psychotic disorders.
It is becoming increasingly clear that psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia do not have conditions that can be simply localized to the brain. A recent large-scale observational study conducted on more than one million subjects over 30 years found a striking correlation between stress-related disorders such as PTSD and subsequent autoimmune diseases.
This new study from King's College London takes a broader approach. gathering data from 31 previously published studies, ultimately including more than 25 million people. The purpose of the badysis was to better understand the presence of a correlation between non-neurological autoimmune diseases, such as psoriasis or celiac disease, and the prevalence of psychosis or schizophrenia [19659004"Ourstudyshowsthatdisordersareabout40percentmorelikelytodeveloppsychoticdisorderssuchbadchizophrenia"saysleadresearcherAlexisCullen"Thediscoverythatpsychosisisbadociatedwithnon-neurologicalautoimmunedisorderswhicharenotknowntotargetthebraindirectlyisparticularlyimportant"
The magnitude of this meta-study undeniably limits the accuracy of the final results. The researchers note that the strength of the link between autoimmune diseases and psychosis varies by disease. Of the 37 non-neurological autoimmune diseases monitored in the study, pernicious anemia, pemphigoid and psoriasis were among the most significantly correlated with psychosis.
Interestingly, the study revealed two autoimmune disorders badociated with psychosis: ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis. This result follows a long-standing phenomenon that has found lower rates of rheumatoid arthritis in patients with schizophrenia.
A thorough genetic study of the University of Pennsylvania last year revealed eight genes that appear to be involved in rheumatoid arthritis and schizophrenia. It is hypothesized that variants in the expressions of these genes make a person susceptible to one or the other condition, but not to both.
The researchers in this new study suggest that there may be a variety of underlying factors in autoimmune disorders and psychosis.
"Inflammation is a likely candidate since people with psychosis show higher levels of inflammatory markers than healthy individuals, and inflammation is a fundamental feature of autoimmune disorders. immune, "suggests Cullen. "However, other factors such as shared genes, autoantibodies targeting brain proteins and infectious agents could also play a role."
Like all observational studies of this type, there are limits to the conclusions that can be drawn. Despite the scale of the study, we still do not know what mechanism could explain this link. The researchers suggest that more granular studies are needed to identify specific mechanisms and two-way connections between autoimmune disorders and psychosis.
Despite this, Cullen notes that the new study suggests closer monitoring of early signs of psychosis in patients. suffering from specific autoimmune diseases is justified.
"This is important," says Cullen, "because we know that early intervention can improve clinical outcomes for people in the early stages of a psychotic disorder."
The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry
Source: King's College London
