Immune System Related Markers: Changes in childhood Neuropsychiatry Disorders Cause and Consequence

Abstract

There has been great interest in the role of inflammation in psychiatric disorders of children and adolescents. This chapter begins by describing the normal development of the immune system from fetal life and earlier through infancy, childhood, and beyond. The role of genetics, environmental stressors, and trauma will be described and the sequelae that may follow. A focus will be the transition from normal to altered immunity and how that may later be expressed in the child. Links between inflammation and mood disorders are well documented, as are those associated with psychotic disorders. The latter group has been of interest for decades with the description of schizophrenia associated with infection. This chapter will trace earlier findings as they have evolved in the more recent past with technologically advanced evidence. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), increasingly more important for mental health professionals to understand, has diverse links to the immune system. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is another exciting area with multiple associations to inflammation and obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders have multiple alterations of interleukins. New evidence points to immune changes in children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, as well as those with disruptive behavior. Critical to the complete understanding of suicide are the new reports of the neuroimmune system of suicidal patients. The chapter concludes with prominent bio-markers that have been identified in recent literature having connections with child and adolescent psychopathology. Current evidence points researchers toward an exciting new frontier that may offer new and more effective treatments in the future.