Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Mar 19, 2024; 14(3): 342-349
Published online Mar 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i3.342
How inflammation influences psychiatric disease
Eduardo Ferat-Osorio, José Luis Maldonado-García, Lenin Pavón
Eduardo Ferat-Osorio, División de Investigación Clínica de la Coordinación de Investigación en Salud, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City 06720, Mexico
José Luis Maldonado-García, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
José Luis Maldonado-García, Departamento de Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City 11340, Mexico
Lenin Pavón, Laboratorio de Psicoinmunología, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City 14370, Mexico
Author contributions: Pavón L and Ferat-Osorio E collaborated in designing the general concept and structure of the manuscript; Ferat-Osorio F, Maldonado-Garcia JL, and Pavón L wrote and edited the manuscript and reviewed the literature; Maldonado-García JL designed the illustration.
Supported by the Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, No. NC23189.0.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lenin Pavón, PhD, Professor, Laboratorio de Psicoinmunología, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, 101 Calz México-Xochimilco, Mexico City 14370, Mexico. lkuriaki@inprf.gob.mx
Received: December 20, 2023
Peer-review started: December 20, 2023
First decision: January 11, 2024
Revised: January 16, 2024
Accepted: February 18, 2024
Article in press: February 18, 2024
Published online: March 19, 2024
Processing time: 89 Days and 17.6 Hours
Abstract

Recent studies highlight the strong correlation between infectious diseases and the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. In this editorial, we comment on the article “Anti-infective therapy durations predict psychological stress and laparoscopic surgery quality in pelvic abscess patients” by Zhang et al, published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Psychiatry 2023; 13 (11): 903-911. Our discussion highlighted the potential consequences of anxiety, depression, and psychosis, which are all linked to bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, which are relevant to the impact of inflammation on the sequelae in mental health as those we are observing after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We focus specifically on the immune mechanisms triggered by inflammation, the primary contributor to psychiatric complications. Importantly, pathophysiological mechanisms such as organ damage, post-injury inflammation, and infection-induced endocrine alterations, including hypocortisolism or autoantibody formation, significantly contribute to the development of chronic low-grade inflammation, promoting the emergence or development of psychiatric alterations in susceptible individuals. As inflammation can have long-term effects on patients, a multidisciplinary treatment plan can avoid complications and debilitating health issues, and it is crucial to recognize and address the mental health implications.

Keywords: Inflammation; infection; Depression; Pelvic inflammatory disease; Psychiatric complication

Core Tip: In recent years there has been increasing evidence that infectious diseases increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders due to acute or chronic inflammation. This manuscript offers a detailed summary and discussion that will provide valuable insights on the mechanisms behind psychiatric complications observed in infectious conditions as a commentary to the article “Anti-infective therapy durations predict psychological stress and laparoscopic surgery quality in pelvic abscess patients”.