Modern Approaches to the Depression Immunotherapy

Affective disorders are a polyetiological diseases that arise as a result of the unfavorable genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors complex impact, the interaction of which leads to the formation of structural (including molecular, cellular) and functional changes in the brain. The results of modern research have established that changes in the immune system functioning are an important link in the etiology, pathopsychology and pathogenesis of affective disorders, in particular, of depression. The presence of reciprocal relationships between the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, the high degree of depression comorbidity with autoimmune, infectious and chronic inflammatory diseases confirms the hypothesis of the presence of common immune-mediated mechanisms of these pathological processes pathogenesis. Widespread prevalence and steady increase in incidence, severity of clinical manifestations, insufficient effectiveness of therapeutic correction methods, as well as significant social and economic damage make the problem of depression effective treatment and prevention as one of the most pressing in modern medicine. Pharmacological treatment of depression entails certain limitations, such as delayed onset of antidepressants action, the presence of significant side effects, insufficient effectiveness of therapy, which reduces patient adherence to treatment. Therefore, the development of new, more effective, pathogenetically determined strategies for depression pharmacotherapy is a pressing task of modern psychopharmacology. This literature review presents data analysis on the immunomodulatory properties of a number of antidepressants, the experience of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors), cytokine inhibitors, epigenetic modulators, as well as the possible prospects for the cellular technologies use in the immunotherapy of depression. The immunotherapy usage in treatment protocols for depression patients opens up the new possibilities for correcting of the pathological changes in this category of patients, which will increase the pharmacotherapy effectiveness, improves the patient’s quality of life and social adaptation, maintains the working capacity, and reduces the burden on the healthcare system and society as a whole.