Microglia: A Central Player in Depression

Summary Microglia are the major immune cells in the central nervous system and play a key role in the normal function of the brain. Microglia exhibit functional diversity, and they control the inflammation in central nervous system through releasing inflammatory cytokine, clearing apoptotic cells vi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current medical science 2020-06, Vol.40 (3), p.391-400
Main Authors: Deng, Si-long, Chen, Jian-guo, Wang, Fang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Brain - pathology
Depression - etiology
Depression - pathology
Humans
Inflammation - etiology
Inflammation - pathology
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Microglia - physiology
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
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Summary:Summary Microglia are the major immune cells in the central nervous system and play a key role in the normal function of the brain. Microglia exhibit functional diversity, and they control the inflammation in central nervous system through releasing inflammatory cytokine, clearing apoptotic cells via phagocytosis, regulating synaptic plasticity and the formation of neural network by synapse pruning. Recent studies have strongly indicated that the microglial dysfunction is associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases such as depression, which have been termed as “microgliopathy”. The emergency of advanced technologies and tools has enabled us to comprehensively understand the role of microglia in physiology and pathology, and growing studies have targetted microglia to explore the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases. Here, we describe the key progress of microglia research, and review the recent developments in the understanding of the role of microglia in physiology and etiology of depression.
ISSN:2096-5230
2523-899X
DOI:10.1007/s11596-020-2193-1