Undoubtedly, anxiety and depression are comorbid entities that emotionally and operationally disable millions of people worldwide with no distinction of age. Chronic stress is the common unifying element that backs up the metabolic disturbances, gut dysbiosis, and immune conditions that trigger and drive ...
Undoubtedly, anxiety and depression are comorbid entities that emotionally and operationally disable millions of people worldwide with no distinction of age. Chronic stress is the common unifying element that backs up the metabolic disturbances, gut dysbiosis, and immune conditions that trigger and drive anxiety and depression. The mechanisms that translate this process into brain maladaptive plasticity are poorly understood. This is especially true for glial cells, the neural cytological elements that constitute ~50% of the brain cellular mass, that were first identified in 19th century by Rudolf Virchow, Santiago Ramón y Cajal and Pío del Río-Hortega. The term “glial cells” is a generic one that encompasses a group of cells that share to some extent morphological traits, while displaying a great deal of molecular/functional phenotypic diversity. Also, glial cells guide the early and late developmental processes, and modulate neurotransmission/neuronal activity and syncytial communication, immune responses, blood-brain barrier properties, and neural plasticity through life. Hence, it is expected that their deregulation contributes to set the stage and promote the progression of cellular events that underlie the origin, progression, and consolidation of anxiety and depression.
This Research Topic collects research focused on the role of glial cells in the etiology and pathogenesis of anxiety and depression. We invite all authors interested to submit original articles and review manuscripts aimed at uncovering principles on research on this topic.
Keywords:
astrocytes; oligodendrocytes, microglial cells, immune psychiatry, psychiatric endocrinology, developmental neuropsychiatry, metabolism, mood disorder
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