Abstract
Schizophrenia is a highly heritable, severely debilitating brain disorder with complex genetic contribution. Although the exact etiology of schizophrenia remains unknown, it is postulated to be manifested by genetic, environmental and immunological factors.
The vulnerability-stress-inflammation model of schizophrenia postulates a “hit” in early life to the immune system along with physical and mental stress may trigger a lifetime increased immune reactivity and a psychotic episode. Many epidemiological and clinical studies report increased risk for schizophrenia in the individuals with pre- or perinatal exposure to infections. Alterations in levels of inflammatory markers such as cytokines are reported in blood and cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenia patients.
In recent years, an exponential growth of interest has been given on the application of imaging genetics to unravel neurogenetic mechanisms that lie in schizophrenia. Imaging genetics combine the two fields of genetics and brain imaging and applies structural and functional neuroimaging to study in the context of genetic background.
Many pieces of genetic evidence suggest that immune dysregulation plays a major role in schizophrenia. Furthermore, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) revealed alterations in immune-related genes and/or immune responses in patients with schizophrenia.
However, the structural and functional consequences of the derived results remain to be discovered. Hence, we review selected aspects of this literature, discussing the involvement of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and cytokines.
Keywords: imaging genetics, inflammation, schizophrenia, neuroimaging, MHC