Sex differences in the neuro-immune consequences of stress: Focus on depression and anxiety

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Mandakh Bekhbat, Emory University; Gretchen Neigh, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-01-01
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 Elsevier Inc.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2017.02.006
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
• ISSN: 0889-1591
• Volume: 67
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 12
• Grant/Funding Information: The authors receive funding from NIH: NR014886 and MH110364.
• Keywords: Stress; Science & Technology; Neurosciences & Neurology; PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS; BONE-MARROW; ANTIINFLAMMATORY TREATMENT; Neurosciences; ADOLESCENT STRESS; Psychiatry; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES; LEUKOCYTE TRAFFICKING; MICROGLIAL ACTIVATION; Sex differences; Female; C-REACTIVE PROTEIN; ADULT MALE-MICE; Immunology; PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS; Neuroinflammation
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Neuroscience; Psychology, Cognitive

Abstract

Women appear to be more vulnerable to the depressogenic effects of inflammation than men. Chronic stress, one of the most pertinent risk factors of depression and anxiety, is known to induce behavioral and affective-like deficits via neuroimmune alterations including activation of the brain's immune cells, pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, and subsequent changes in neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity within stress-related neural circuitry. Despite well-established sexual dimorphisms in the stress response, immunity, and prevalence of stress-linked psychiatric illnesses, much of current research investigating the neuroimmune impact of stress remains exclusively focused on male subjects. We summarize and evaluate here the available data regarding sex differences in the neuro-immune consequences of stress, and some of the physiological factors contributing to these differences. Furthermore, we discuss the extent to which sex differences in stress-related neuroinflammation can account for the overall female bias in stress-linked psychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. The currently available evidence from rodent studies does not unequivocally support the peripheral inflammatory changes seen in women following stress. Replication of many recent findings in stress-related neuroinflammation in female subjects is necessary in order to build a framework in which we can assess the extent to which sex differences in stress-related inflammation contribute to the overall female bias in stress-related affective disorders.