Pharmacological and Nonpharmacological Interventions to Arrest Neuroprogression in Psychiatric Disorders

The concept of neuroprogression describes the progressive course of the disorder and stresses the progressive, recurrent, and chronic course of the disease entity under consideration. It subsumes clinical manifestations of the disease process and may also entail morphological, biochemical, neurochemical, immunological, physiological, and genetic aspects that contribute to the progressive course of the disease in question. In an attempt to identify the appropriate agent or method that could arrest neuroprogression in psychiatric patients, we conducted an evaluation of the use of anti-inflammatory drugs under the perspective of current pharmacological and neurophysiological data. This evaluation included the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as adjunctive treatment to conventional pharmacotherapy as well as the use of natural products exerting anti-inflammatory properties (i.e., ω-3 fatty acids) given as adjunctive or monotherapeutic treatments in less severe cases. The therapeutic significance of nonpharmacological methods, such as psychotherapy, physical exercise, and body-mind therapies, was also considered and will be discussed in this chapter. In conclusion, the role of psychotropic and select anti-inflammatory drugs in arresting neuroprogression is a very promising new frontier in psychiatric research and clinical practice. Modulators of a specific prostanoid synthase or receptor across the cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 downstream pathway along with new multitarget NSAIDs are expected to be tested by the pharmaceutical industry as potential agents to antagonize neuroprogression. Meanwhile, salicylates and selective COX-2 inhibitors could still be used in carefully selected subgroups of patients. Psychotherapy and nonpharmacological, stress-relieving methods should be considered as adjunctive tools to aid in arresting neuroprogression.