The symposium “Psychiatric Diseases and Neuroinflammation” outlines the current knowledge of the role of autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of different psychiatric disorders including preclinical data, signal pathways, prevalence of autoimmunity in psychosis and potential treatment options. The first talk highlights the role of immune activation in psychiatric by microglia, which are progressively becoming the main focus of the research in this field. Microglia activation has been found across different psychiatric disorders, including post-mortem and in-vivo studies in humans and experimental studies in animals. Here, rodent models of psychiatric diseases are presented.
Additionally, there is increasing evidence that immunological processes and metabolic changes are associated with the presence and course of depressive disorders. Changes in immunometabolic pathways are highly interconnected with psychological processes and the nervous system. The second talk “Immuno-metabolic pathways in major depression” will summarize the current knowledge and outlines potential treatment options.
Autoimmune encephalitis with psychotic symptoms caused by specific antineuronal antibodies has been identified as a rare, but potentially treatable differential diagnosis. The third talk presents epidemiological data, clinical warning signs and diagnostic workup to recognize these disorders.
The last talk will discuss Minocyclin as an anti-inflammatory agent as a treatment option for Treatment-Refractory Depression. Minocycline is a well-established tetracycline and has recently gained much attention due to its effects on the retinoid signaling.

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