Microbes and Autoimmunity in Neuropsychiatric Illness
Microbes and Autoimmunity in Neuropsychiatric Illness
Genetically susceptible individuals may generate brain-reactive autoantibodies when exposed to certain infectious agents or commensal organisms. Under inflammatory conditions that promote BBB disruption and facilitate trafficking into the CNS, binding of autoantibodies to cross-reactive epitopes may contribute to the cognitive and behavioral disturbances associated with these disorders by altering brain activity within key circuitry. This conceptual model views altered brain–immune signaling as a product of the interaction of immune response genes and microbial exposures at key points during prenatal and postnatal development, and provides a framework within which discordant findings across studies of different neuropsychiatric disorders may be better explained and through which novel pathways for improved therapeutics may be discovered.
Conclusion
Genetically susceptible individuals may generate brain-reactive autoantibodies when exposed to certain infectious agents or commensal organisms. Under inflammatory conditions that promote BBB disruption and facilitate trafficking into the CNS, binding of autoantibodies to cross-reactive epitopes may contribute to the cognitive and behavioral disturbances associated with these disorders by altering brain activity within key circuitry. This conceptual model views altered brain–immune signaling as a product of the interaction of immune response genes and microbial exposures at key points during prenatal and postnatal development, and provides a framework within which discordant findings across studies of different neuropsychiatric disorders may be better explained and through which novel pathways for improved therapeutics may be discovered.
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