IFN-alpha and neuroinflammation in healthy men
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Imaging activation of microglia in humans by the experimental challenge, Interferon-alpha, using the novel TSPO tracer [11C] PBR 28
IRAS ID
211032
Contact name
Valeria Mondelli
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Major depression is a psychiatric condition in which patients feel persistently sad and hopeless. This condition interferes with daily life activity, and can be profoundly disabling. One third of patients fail to improve with available medications ("antidepressant drugs"), and we still do not know what is the best treatment for these patients. There is evidence that the immune system, which is the system dedicated to fight infections in our body, is in a state of "hyperactivity"
in patients with depression (also called "inflammation"), as if they were fighting an infective agent, even though they do not have an ongoing infection. However, we still do not know if this inflammation is limited to the blood or if it is also present in the brain. "Inflammation in the brain" is due to immune cells that are resident in the brain ("microglia") becoming hyperactive. Until recently it was impossible to measure microglia activation in living humans, but this is now achievable using a neuroimaging technique called "positron emission tomography", or PET. This is a safe technique, routinely used in medicine, which involves a small amount of radioactivity.
This project aims to assess if “inflammation in the blood” is associated with "inflammation in the brain" in five healthy subjects. To do this we will study inflammation in the brain, using PET and MRI before and after activation of the immune system. We will activate the immune system by giving the subjects an injection of inteferon-alpha, which simulates the presence of an infection, so that the body will increase the activity of the immune system although there is no a real
infection. This is a safe procedure which has already been done in humans before.
The findings from this project will be important to support the possible association between inflammation in blood and in the brain in depressed patients.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1520
Date of REC Opinion
21 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion