Generalized Anxiety Disorder Linked to High IFN-γ and TNF-α but Low IL-10 Peripheral Levels
A recent Brain, Behavior, and Immunity study provides perhaps the first evidence that Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is associated with a peripheral imbalance of pro- versus anti- inflammatory cytokines such as interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-10. GAD, classified since the 1980s in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder is […]
First Evidence that Meningeal Interferon-γ Affects Neuronal Connectivity and Social Behavior
A recent study published in Nature magazine links the meningeal immunity to the regulation of social behavior, implicating the meningeal interferon (IFN)-γ and its modulatory effects on the activity of brain cortex GABAergic neurons. Diseases such as autism spectrum disorder, frontotemporal dementia and schizophrenia are characterized by severe social and immune dysfunction. Little is known […]
Hyperactive Type I Interferon System in the Choroid Plexus Linked To Aging and Cognitive Dysfunction
A study published in the August 21, 2014 issue of Science magazine demonstrates that aging is associated with an overactive interferon (IFN)-I system at a specific brain structure, the choroid plexus. This vascular tissue, found in all cerebral ventricles, is an epithelial monolayer that forms the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, and, in fact, represents the ‘interface’ […]
High Levels of IFN-Gamma, IL-4 and IL-5 in Mothers Bearing Autistic Children
A study by Paula E Goines et al., published in Molecular Autism, indicates that divergent cytokine profiles are expressed in serum samples taken during the second trimester of pregnancy from i) mothers bearing a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); ii) a child with a developmental delay (DD) other than ASD; or iii) a child from the […]
Interferon and the Central Nervous System
Overview article Interferons (IFNs) are glycoproteins known as cytokines. These cytokines got their name by Isaacs and Lindenmann [1] after their ability to interfere with viral growth and production. Isaacs and Lindenmann worked at the Medical Research Council Laboratory in Mill Hill, outside London and were the first to publish a paper on these proteins. […]
Regulatory T Cells are Cerebroprotective in Acute Experimental Stroke
A recent Nature Medicine study by Arthur Liesz et al. indicates that regulatory T cells (Treg) are cerebroprotective after experimental brain ischemia or stroke, and that interleukin (IL)-10 appears to be the major mediator of the cerebroprotective effects. Recent evidence indicates that inflammatory mechanisms such as up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and leukocytes’ invasion in the […]
The Discovery of Interferon, the First Cytokine, by Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann in 1957
Historical Perspectives I first met Alick Isaacs in November, 1955. He immediately struck me as an extremely intelligent and very lively person; though little did I know that those next few years would lead to a major discovery – that of interferon – and also that working with him was going to set the course […]
