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Social interaction, psychotic disorders and inflammation: A triangle of interest
Timo Jendrik Faustmann1, Daniel Kamp1, Saskia Räuber2
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; Department of General Psychiatry 2, LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Bergische Landstraße 2, 40629 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Abstract:
Social interaction difficulties are a hallmark of psychotic disorders, which in some cases can be definitely traced back to autoimmunological causes. Interestingly, systemic and intrathecal inflammation have been shown to significantly influence social processing by increasing sensitivity to threatening social stimuli, which bears some resemblance to psychosis. In this article, we review evidence for the involvement of systemic and intrathecal inflammatory processes in psychotic disorders and how this might help to explain some of the social impairments associated with this group of disorders. Vice versa, we also discuss evidence for the immunomodulatory function of social interactions and their potential role for therapeutic interventions in psychotic disorders.
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