1. Peripheral NF-κB dysregulation in people with schizophrenia drives inflammation: putative anti-inflammatory functions of NF-κB kinases
- Author
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Caitlin E. Murphy, Adam K. Walker, Maryanne O’Donnell, Cherrie Galletly, Andrew R. Lloyd, Dennis Liu, Cynthia Shannon Weickert, and Thomas W. Weickert
- Subjects
Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry ,RC321-571 - Abstract
Abstract Elevations in plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patient blood have been associated with impairments in cognitive abilities and more severe psychiatric symptoms in people with schizophrenia. The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) regulates the gene expression of pro-inflammatory factors whose protein products trigger CRP release. NF-κB activation pathway mRNAs are increased in the brain in schizophrenia and are strongly related to neuroinflammation. Thus, it is likely that this central immune regulator is also dysregulated in the blood and associated with cytokine and CRP levels. We measured levels of six pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNAs and 18 mRNAs encoding NF-κB pathway members in peripheral blood leukocytes from 87 people with schizophrenia and 83 healthy control subjects. We then assessed the relationships between the alterations in NF-κB pathway genes, pro-inflammatory cytokine and CRP levels, psychiatric symptoms and cognition in people with schizophrenia. IL-1β and IFN-γ mRNAs were increased in patients compared to controls (both p
- Published
- 2022
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