A Review of Psychoneuroimmunological Studies in Depression

Aim and Background: Depression is a condition that is associated with severe suffering and major damage to the patient's general health, quality of life, and social and occupational activities, which in some cases may lead to suicide. Depression is one of the causes of disability in the world, which has brought a lot of care and economic burden. Since the burden of care and the economic burden of depression have been reported significantly, it is necessary to consider new ways to understand the heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes in depression. Therefore, this article presents a report to review neuropsychological immunological studies in depression. Methods and Materials: Considering the extent of scientific research in this field, only English and Farsi articles with a neuropsychological immunological approach have been used in the time range between 2015 and 2024 and in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases. The keywords used were Neuroinflammation, Inflammation, Depression, and psychoneuroimmunology. Findings: By reviewing the research literature in the field of neuropsychological immunology of depression, this article examined the interaction of stress and the immune system in three levels: 1. Inflammation and depression, 2. Immunological pathways in depression, and 3. The interaction of psychoactive interventions and inflammation in depression. Conclusions: Neuro-psychological immunological studies of depression or the study of the interrelationship between the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems widely resolve the scientific and research gap regarding the relationship between depression and the immune system. Due to the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for the treatment of chronic diseases, psychosocial interventions may be a suitable strategy to reduce the burden of disease and improve human health.