Breaking research published this week in JAMA Psychiatry takes a look at the role of brain inflammation in OCD. The senior author of the study is Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, head of the Neuroimaging Program in Mood & Anxiety at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada.
Inflammation is a natural process; it is a normal component of the immune response and a standard reaction to injury. However, if the level of inflammation is inappropriate or continues for too long, it can have negative consequences. For instance, in a number of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis, inflammation is heavily involved.
Specifically, the researchers were able to selectively dye microglia, which are cells that act as the nervous system's most prominent immune defense and which are activated during inflammation. The researchers measured levels of microglia in six brain regions known to be important in OCD, including the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex.
Another interesting finding was that individuals who reported the highest levels of stress when trying to stop themselves from acting on compulsions also had the highest levels of inflammation in a particular brain region.
As so many diseases involve inflammation, there are already a range of drugs designed to tackle it. Because these drugs already exist on the market, it may be a fruitful avenue of research in the hunt for more effective treatments for OCD.
"Medications developed to target brain inflammation in other disorders could be useful in treating OCD," Dr. Meyer says. "Work needs to be done to uncover the specific factors that contribute to brain inflammation, but finding a way to reduce inflammation's harmful effects and increase its helpful effects could enable us to develop a new treatment much more quickly."