This article is part of the supplement: International Society on Brain and Behaviour: 3rd International Congress on Brain and Behaviour .

Oral presentation

Brain-Immune Interactions: the role of cytokines in depression and substance use disorders

Jennifer M Loftis

Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University; Portland, Oregon, USA

corresponding author email

from International Society on Brain and Behaviour: 3rd International Congress on Brain and Behaviour
Thessaloniki, Greece. 28 November – 2 December 2007

Annals of General Psychiatry 2008, 7(Suppl 1):S38doi:10.1186/1744-859X-7-S1-S38

Published:	17 April 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

The role of the immune system in the neurobiological and pathophysiological mechanisms mediating psychiatric symptomotology and cognitive functioning has attracted increasing attention in recent years. This role is exemplified in the case of patients with chronic viral infections secondary to substance use disorders and in the use of cytokines as antiviral therapies [e.g., interferon-alpha therapy for hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection]. In particular, the recent methamphetamine epidemic in the United States has highlighted the risk of contracting human immunodeficiency viral (HIV) and HCV infections. Not only do substance use disorders increase the risk of contracting HIV or HCV, they have also been associated with decreased antiviral therapy utilization and virological suppression.