Cross-disorder Approach To Delineate The Roles Of Neuroinflammation In Three Early-onset Psychiatric Conditions

Early life exposure to inflammation and infection can disrupt the normal trajectory of brain development.

Research has shown that a person’s specific genetics and the complex, interactive, and individualised system of cells and nerves that makes up the brain play an equal role in the process by which a disease or disorder develops. A range of factors (such as chronic or continuous stress, chronic low-grade infections, and genetic risks) may alter normal brain development and function. 

The project

This project will investigate the role of a specific molecule (IL-6, produced at sites of acute and chronic inflammation) in triggering an immune response in two common types of brain cells: neurons (the brain’s primary type of cells) and microglia (the brain’s resident immune cells). This work will also examine whether this response is common across three related psychiatric conditions: autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

The process

Dr S N M, Ashitha and her team will identify patients with autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia who carry harmful genetic changes in IL-6 genes (6 patients for each diagnosis i.e. 6*3 diagnosis) and additionally 6 healthy individuals without any psychiatric diagnosis (who do not carry IL-6 genetic alterations). They will then create neurons and microglia for each- (total 48 different cell cultures) and study their response to IL-6 by exposing them to short (1 hour to 24 hours) and long-duration (7 days) IL-6 treatment.

The potential

This project will take us a step closer to better equip ourselves for the era of personalised medical care. Informing tests and screenings, the results of this project could enable clinicians to better identify the risks carried by individual patients, providing knowledge on alternate drug targets and treatments that could be individualised to the patient.