Regulatory T Cells As Supporters of Psychoimmune Resilience: Toward Immunotherapy of Major Depressive Disorder

Pierre Ellul (1, 2) , Encarnita Mariotti-Ferrandiz (3, 4) , Marion Leboyer (5, 6, 7) , David Klatzmann (3, 4)

1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department [AP- HP Hôpital Robert Debré]
2 SU - Sorbonne Université
3 I3 - Immunologie - Immunopathologie - Immunothérapie [CHU Pitié Salpêtrière]
4 CIC-BTi - Centre d'investigation clinique Biothérapie [CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière]
5 IMRB - Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale
6 Pôle de Psychiatrie [Hôpital Henri Mondor]
7 Fondation FondaMental [Créteil]

There is growing evidence that inflammation plays a role in major depressive disorder (MDD). As the main role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) is to control inflammation, this might denote a Treg insufficiency in MDD. However, neither a qualitative nor a quantitative defect of Tregs has been ascertained and no causality direction between inflammation and depression has been established. Here, after reviewing the evidence supporting a relation between Treg insufficiency and MDD, we conclude that a novel therapeutic approach based on Treg stimulation could be valuable in at least the subset of patients with inflammatory MDD. Low-dose interleukin-2 appears to be a good candidate as it is not only a safe stimulator of Tregs in humans but also an inhibitor of pro-inflammatory Th17 lymphocytes. Here, we discuss that a thorough immune investigation as well as immunotherapy will be heuristic for deciphering the pathophysiology of MDD.

Mots clés: immunotherapy; inflammation; low-dose interleukin-2; major depressive disorders; regulatory T cell

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Pierre Ellul, Encarnita Mariotti-Ferrandiz, Marion Leboyer, David Klatzmann. Regulatory T Cells As Supporters of Psychoimmune Resilience: Toward Immunotherapy of Major Depressive Disorder. Frontiers in Neurology, 2018, 9, pp.167. ⟨10.3389/fneur.2018.00167⟩. ⟨hal-03867890⟩