Inflammation, Stress, and Comorbidity in Psychiatry: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications
A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropsychiatry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2026) | Viewed by 828
Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Nowadays, mental and physical health can no longer be regarded as distinct; rather, they belong to an intertwined network comprising the nervous, endocrine, immune, and gastrointestinal systems. Recent advances in neuroscience, psychoimmunology, and medicine have highlighted the pivotal role of inflammation and chronic stress in the pathophysiology of major psychiatric disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. These conditions frequently co-occur with systemic illnesses—such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and autoimmune disorders—suggesting shared biological risk mechanisms.
In this Special Issue of Brain Sciences, we welcome original research, reviews, and perspectives that explore the mechanistic links, neurobiological pathways, and therapeutic implications of inflammation and stress in psychiatric illnesses and their common comorbidities with the emphasis of shared biological mechanisms.
Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Neuroinflammatory processes in psychiatric disorders (e.g., cytokine signaling, microglial activation);
- HPA axis dysregulation and its effects on brain function and behavior;
- The impact of early-life adversity on neuroimmune development—biological risk vs resilience mechanisms;
- Comorbidity models linking psychiatric and systemic illnesses (e.g., schizophrenia and cardiovascular risk);
- Neuroimaging and electrophysiological correlates of stress and inflammation;
- Anti-inflammatory and stress-modulating treatments—pharmacological and behavioral;
- Personalized and precision medicine approaches in neuropsychiatry;
- Translational models bridging animal studies and human clinical research.
Dr. Heline Mirzakhanian
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- immune biomarkers in psychiatry
- neuroinflammation
- precision neuropsychiatry
- risk mechanisms
- comorbidity models
- HPA axis dysregulation
- anti-inflammatory treatments
- psychiatric and physical comorbidity
- cytokine signaling
- microglial activation
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