NEWSBRIEF - Depression linked to inflammation
Several studies have noted that many people on immune-boosting drugs (interferon and interleukin-2) tend to become severely depressed and even suicidal. Some researchers now believe that depression may be a chronic inflammatory disease like rheumatoid arthritis. They believe some depressed people have an overheated immune system and that damping down the resulting inflammation could be a new way of treating depression. Could the inflammation be brought on by a mysterious virus? Perhaps, but not likely – in other words, you probably don't "catch" depression. Pharmaceutical companies are hard at work to see if they can come up with a drug that can reduce the number of cytokines (compounds released by immune system cells) produced during inflammation and thereby reduce the accompanying depression.
New Scientist, June 16, 2001, pp. 34-37