Refugee Mental Health Through the Lens of Neuroscience and Genetics

This is part of our special feature on Forced Migration, Cultural Identity, and Trauma.

 

As Europe copes with the presence of nearly a million refugees, national medical care systems have become strained. The primary focus of medical care is acute (somatic) illness, rather than mental health. Even if mental health needs are addressed, doctors focus on acute symptoms instead of the long-term sequelae of trauma, and they do not include the patient’s psycho-social context. The neglect of a long-term, integrated bio-psycho-social perspective of both somatic and mental illness will ultimately be costly, as it ignores important interrelations between these variables that may predict individual differences in vulnerability and resilience. The emergent research literature examining the interrelations is largely based on studies conducted in non-traumatized or non-refugee cohorts, with small sample sizes and cross-sectional (as opposed to longitudinal) study designs. I argue in favor of large-scale longitudinal bio-psycho-social studies conducted in collaboration with refugee participants. The goal of this research agenda is to understand what drives individual differences in disease vulnerability and resilience. Such discoveries can ultimately benefit patients to be matched to tailored treatment protocols, and guide policy-makers to design an integrated approach to migration that minimizes future healthcare burdens and maximizes well-being in, and productive contributions by, the newly arrived migrant populations in Europe.

 

Mind the Gap – Surprising connections between physical and mental health

In Germany, the medical treatment of asylum seekers is guided by the Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz (AsylbLG), which only considers acute illness and pain-related illness as grounds for a medical visit. A request by an asylum seeker for treatment of other medical needs is subject to review by the Sozialbehoerde and can be turned down or delayed. Indeed, 15 percent of requests by asylum seekers for psychotherapy are turned down, compared to 1-3 percent in the general population (Bundesweite Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Psychosozialen Zentren für Flüchtlinge und Folteropfer (2015) Versorgungsbericht. Zur psychosozialen Versorgung von Flüchtlingen und Folteropfern in Deutschland.BAfF e. V.,Berlin, cited in (Bottche, Heeke, & Knaevelsrud, 2016)). Such denials or delays can dramatically increase the incidence of mental illness. For example, a U.S. study of migrated torture survivors reported levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression that were 3.3 and 4.5 times higher (as measured by “Odd Ratio”), respectively, in individuals who had only received clinical care after more than a year post-migration, compared to those who received clinical care within one year post-migration (Song, Kaplan, Tol, Subica, & de Jong, 2015). Yet, the need for mental health among refugees and asylum seekers is profound: recent studies of Syrian refugees documented a prevalence rate of 34 percent for PTSD (Alpak et al., 2015) and 30 percent for depression (Gammouh, Al-Smadi, Tawalbeh, & Khoury, 2015).

Policy-makers and even many medical professionals may not appreciate the significant interplay between body and mind, somatic and psychiatric illness. In fact, there is a rapidly growing literature linking psychiatric conditions such as PTSD and depression to somatic conditions, particularly gastrointestinal disorders, inflammation, and infection.

A common gastrointestinal disorder is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel movements. IBS compromises the function of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, which acts as a major stress regulatory system. In healthy individuals, the HPA axis acutely releases stress hormones (such as cortisol) as an adaptive short-term stress response to a threat. However, in chronically stressed individuals the levels of stress hormones stay elevated, damaging organs and even neurons in the brain (McEwen, 2007). Indeed, brain imaging studies reveal IBS-related changes in a number of regions including those that process emotion (Fadgyas-Stanculete, Buga, Popa-Wagner, & Dumitrascu, 2014).  Furthermore, IBS is associated with a number of psychiatric disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and PTSD (Fadgyas-Stanculete et al., 2014; Fond et al., 2014; Irwin et al., 1996; Sibelli et al., 2016). The pathogenesis of IBS is multi-faceted, involving the interaction of environmental, psychological, inflammatory, neural, and genetic variables. These genes exist in multiple forms (so-called “polymorphisms”), so that genetic variation may render some individuals more vulnerable to IBS (and/or to its co-morbid psychiatric disorders) than others. There is evidence from one large-scale study of almost 4,700 patients and 18,800 matched controls that IBS can precede later psychiatric diagnosis: IBS was associated with increased risk for newly-diagnosed depression, anxiety disorders, and sleep disorders one, five, and more than five years after IBS diagnosis (Lee et al., 2015).

A recent study catalogued health care needs among Middle Eastern asylum seekers in Central Europe (Pfortmueller, Schwetlick, Mueller, Lehmann, & Exadaktylos, 2016): of the 880 patients, the most common (n= 132, 15 percent) complaint among unspecified somatic symptoms was gastrointestinal disorders. A study of refugees and asylum seekers in Munich (Alberer, Wendeborn, Loscher, & Seilmaier, 2016) found that 56/548 (10 percent) of patient visits were due to gastrointestinal illnesses, which was the third-leading cause, after unspecific viral infections (152 visits, 28 percent) and neuropsychiatric illness (68 visits, 12 percent). Thus, clinicians should pay attention to somatic symptoms among refugees and asylum-seekers, as they may be indicators of existing co-morbid psychiatric conditions or harbingers of psychiatric conditions yet to come.

Inflammation is associated with a range of psychiatric conditions, including PTSD (Pace & Heim, 2011) and depression (Dantzer, O’Connor, Freund, Johnson, & Kelley, 2008). One mechanism by which trauma exposure precipitates inflammation involves activation of the HPA axis that ultimately leads to activation of specific (beta-2 adrenergic) receptors on immune cells, and the subsequent increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines (Neigh & Ali, 2016). In fact, levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 were found to correlate with PTSD symptom severity (Passos et al., 2015). These cytokines can be detected in blood, which suggests that blood-based biomarkers for PTSD may be developed (Daskalakis et al., 2016). Furthermore, there is now accumulating evidence that anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce depressive symptoms (Kappelmann, Lewis, Dantzer, Jones, & Khandaker, 2016), opening the door for novel therapies built around the molecular biology of immune system regulation in the brain (Miller, Haroon, & Felger, 2016).

One variable that may distinguish vulnerable individuals from resilient ones is the degree to which genes are activated that play a role in the immune system. For example, a study of Bosnian refugees reported abnormal levels of pro-inflammatory gene expression after exposure to an acute stressor (Nowotny et al., 2010). The underlying mechanism for such differential inflammation-related gene expression may be epigenetic, i.e., the modification of molecules that regulate gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself. One epigenetic mechanism is DNA methylation, by which a methyl molecule is attached to regions of DNA in which a Cytosine is followed by a Guanine (so-called “CpG islands”); by doing so, DNA methylation can impede expression of genes containing these CpG islands. Studies of U.S. military service members and veterans with PTSD and controls found differential DNA methylation in inflammation-related genes (Bam et al., 2016; Rusiecki et al., 2013). Two studies of mothers and their newborns in the Democratic Republic of Congo discovered that maternal war stress was associated with differential methylation at the glucocorticoid receptor gene in newborns and with genome-wide elevated levels of DNA methylation in mothers (Kertes et al., 2016; Rodney & Mulligan, 2014). These studies illustrate that war-related trauma experience can alter gene expression related to stress- and inflammation-related biological systems, which can adversely impact mental health.

I have argued in academic writings (Canli, 2014b, 2015) and in a TEDxStony Brook public lecture (Canli, 2014a) that depression, at least in some patients, may be caused by a virus, bacterium, or parasite that can affect neural circuits underlying cognitive and emotional/motivational processes. As an illustration that such pathogens have already been discovered (which suggests there may be many more yet-to-be-discovered pathogens using similar mechanisms) I spoke about toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which is a parasite that lives in the intestines of cats. When its eggs are released into the environment by the cat’s excretions, they can infect rodents. In the rodent’s brain, T. gondii then reprograms fear and sexual arousal centers, such that a rat that would usually avoid cats is now attracted to the scent of a cat’s urine. Ultimately, the infected rat will fall prey to another cat and T. gondii has completed its life cycle.

Humans are exposed in massive numbers to T. gondii: it is estimated that one-third of the world’s population (Montoya & Liesenfeld, 2004) and one-fifth of the U.S. population (CDC, 2014) is infected with T. gondii. Although the exact mechanisms by which T. gondii may affect the human brain remain to be investigated in detail, there is epidemiological evidence that infection is associated with psychopathology. Across twenty European countries, one study found a significant correlation between T. gondii prevalence rates and national suicide rates (Lester, 2010). Depressed or bipolar patients with a history of suicide attempt were found to have higher T. gondii antibody titers (Arling et al., 2009). In addition to its link to suicidality, T. gondii infection is also linked to schizophrenia (Hsu, Groer, & Beckie, 2014; Torrey, Bartko, Lun, & Yolken, 2007; Torrey, Bartko, & Yolken, 2012).

Syrian refugees and asylum seekers may be at increased risk for T. gondii exposure. A recent study conducted in a Turkish hospital compared Toxoplasma seroprevalence between pregnant Syrian refugees and the local population (Bakacak et al., 2015). Toxoplasma Immunoglobulin M (IgM) seropositivity, an indicator of acute infection, was around 2 percent in the local population but close to 5 percent among Syrian refugees. Toxoplasma Immunoglobulin G (IgG) seropositivity, an indicator of a later response, was around 48 percent in the local population but close to 70 percent among Syrian refugees. Both IgM and IgG measures were significantly different between these two cohorts. Thus, tests for T. gondii exposure may be useful in screening this refugee population for potential infection that carries the risk of subsequent psychopathology.

All the lonely people – the long-term cost of social isolation

Another element by which psycho-social factors can influence biological systems related to health is the subjective experience of social isolation, commonly called “loneliness.” Loneliness may be quite common among refugee populations: a Dutch study of refugees from twenty-one different countries of origin reported that 78 percent expressed an unmet need for company (Strijk, van Meijel, & Gamel, 2011).

Subjective social isolation is associated with poor mental and physical health. Its association with depression (Cacioppo, Hawkley, & Thisted, 2010; Cacioppo, Hughes, Waite, Hawkley, & Thisted, 2006; Green et al., 1992; Holvast et al., 2015; Houtjes et al., 2014; Jaremka et al., 2014) may not be a surprise, but loneliness is also associated with impaired cognitive processes such as accelerated cognitive decline and incident Alzheimer’s disease (Wilson et al., 2007). Loneliness is even associated with physical illnesses that appear to have little to do with it, such as heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and lung disease (Petitte et al., 2015), as well as cancer, infectious and inflammatory diseases (Antoni et al., 2006; Cohen, Doyle, Skoner, Rabin, & Gwaltney, 1997; Cole, Kemeny, Fahey, Zack, & Naliboff, 2003; Luanaigh & Lawlor, 2008; Nausheen, Gidron, Peveler, & Moss-Morris, 2009).

Social neuroscientists try to understand how these associations can be explained at the level of molecular-genetic mechanisms. Contrary to a common understanding of genetics, genes are not “destiny”–they neither predict what happens to a person (except for very few genetic diseases), nor are they in a permanent “on” or “off” position to encode a protein or not. Instead, they can be regulated by hundreds of molecules to turn them “on,” off,” or leave them activated somewhere in-between (thereby producing intermediate amounts of protein). One influential theory builds on the discovery that prolonged periods of loneliness increase a person’s stress hormone levels, and hypothesizes that these stress hormones act as molecular signals that turn on disease-related genes (Cacioppo, Cacioppo, Capitanio, & Cole, 2015). Indeed, this hypothesis is supported by studies of gene expression in blood samples from lonely individuals versus controls (Cole, Hawkley, Arevalo, & Cacioppo, 2011; Cole et al., 2007).

Given that loneliness is a subjective experience, what role does the brain play, and is there evidence for differential gene expression in the human brain as a function of loneliness? This question is difficult to answer because it requires the removal of brain tissue for analysis. We (Canli et al., 2016) recently did exactly that, based on postmortem brain tissue available from deceased donors who were participants in a longitudinal study on aging and who had reported on their subjective experience of social isolation. We discovered close to 1,600 genes that were differentially expressed as a function of loneliness. Analysis of the function of these genes yielded a surprising discovery: many of them played a role in fundamental processes of cellular function (metabolism, cellular aging, cell death etc.) that are commonly impacted across many different types of diseases. Thus, we found evidence for a “genetic architecture” that could explain why loneliness is associated with so many, seemingly unconnected, disease outcomes. The implications of this finding, if replicated, may lead to new therapeutic molecular targets for the treatment of a range of diseases that are exacerbated by loneliness.

Given the significant health burden associated with loneliness, in combination with evidence for widespread feelings of social isolation among refugees (Strijk et al., 2011) and the large number of newly arrived migrant in Europe, social isolation may turn into a concern of epidemic proportions for the health care system of host nations, which need to be addressed with proper interventions and policy-actions. One prescription for interventions to increase social cohesion is to develop community and family-focused programs centered around creative expression such as art, theater, or singing (Jefee-Bahloul, Barkil-Oteo, Pless-Mulloli, & Fouad, 2015). Such programs would be particularly powerful in countering the long-term sequelae of trauma, which can exacerbate preexisting mental health conditions and may even be transmitted trans-generationally (Jefee-Bahloul et al., 2015).

Conclusions

In this article, I surveyed some of the current research literature linking psycho-social and biological variables related to somatic conditions and mental health. This work illustrates that a simple separation of physical and mental health conditions is outdated and likely costly in terms of long-term health burdens for individual patients and national health care systems. Yet, most studies cited here are limited by small sample sizes, cross-sectional, and largely based on non-refugee populations. The research literature that focuses on refugee populations tends to be epidemiological or clinical, rather than bio-psycho-social, in orientation and it also has significant limitations. For example, a recent systematic review (Bozorgmehr et al., 2016) surveyed the research health literature on refugees and asylum seekers in Germany and found that 63 percent of studies only used a single time point, highlighting a need for longitudinal study designs. Furthermore, of the fifty-two studies included in the review, only six addressed childhood illness and no study addressed the health needs of refugee or asylum-seeking women during pregnancy and child birth. These gaps in the literature should motivate a concerted effort to develop a comprehensive research agenda on the bio-psycho-social factors that affect European refugee and asylum seeking populations. The findings would be critical in developing individualized treatment interventions for patients and guide policy-makers to maximize stretched resources.

 

Turhan Canli, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Stony Brook University, NY, where he is also Director of the SCAN (Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience) Center and Director of the Mind/Brain Center on War and Humanity.

Photo: Sanliurfa Turkey, Tolga Sezgin | Shutterstock

 

References

Alberer, M., Wendeborn, M., Loscher, T., & Seilmaier, M. (2016). [Spectrum of diseases occurring in refugees and asylum seekers: data from three different medical institutions in the Munich area from 2014 and 2015].

Erkrankungen bei Fluchtlingen und Asylbewerbern: Daten von drei verschiedenen medizinischen Einrichtungen im Raum Munchen aus den Jahren 2014 und 2015. Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift (1946), 141(1), e8-15.

Alpak, G., Unal, A., Bulbul, F., Sagaltici, E., Bez, Y., Altindag, A., . . . Savas, H. A. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a cross-sectional study. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 19(1), 45-50.

Antoni, M. H., Lutgendorf, S. K., Cole, S. W., Dhabhar, F. S., Sephton, S. E., McDonald, P. G., . . . Sood, A. K. (2006). The influence of bio-behavioural factors on tumour biology: pathways and mechanisms. Nat Rev Cancer, 6(3), 240-248.

Arling, T. A., Yolken, R. H., Lapidus, M., Langenberg, P., Dickerson, F. B., Zimmerman, S. A., . . . Postolache, T. T. (2009). Toxoplasma gondii antibody titers and history of suicide attempts in patients with recurrent mood disorders. J Nerv Ment Dis, 197(12), 905-908. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181c29a23

Bakacak, M., Serin, S., Aral, M., Ercan, O., Kostu, B., Kirecci, A., . . . Bakacak, Z. (2015). [Seroprevalance Differences of Toxoplasma Between Syrian Refugees Pregnants and Indigenous Turkish Pregnants in Kahramanmaras].

Kahramanmaras Yoresindeki Yerlesik Turk Gebelerle Suriyeli Multeci Gebeler Arasinda Toxoplasma Seroprevalans Farkliliklari. Turkiye parazitolojii dergisi, 39(2), 94-97.

Bam, M., Yang, X., Zhou, J., Ginsberg, J. P., Leyden, Q., Nagarkatti, P. S., & Nagarkatti, M. (2016). Evidence for Epigenetic Regulation of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines, Interleukin-12 and Interferon Gamma, in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from PTSD Patients. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol, 11(1), 168-181.

Bottche, M., Heeke, C., & Knaevelsrud, C. (2016). [Sequential traumatization, trauma-related disorders and psychotherapeutic approaches in war-traumatized adult refugees and asylum seekers in Germany].

Sequenzielle Traumatisierungen, Traumafolgestorungen und psychotherapeutische Behandlungsansatze bei kriegstraumatisierten erwachsenen Fluchtlingen in Deutschland. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, 59(5), 621-626.

Bozorgmehr, K., Mohsenpour, A., Saure, D., Stock, C., Loerbroks, A., Joos, S., & Schneider, C. (2016). [Systematic review and evidence mapping of empirical studies on health status and medical care among refugees and asylum seekers in Germany (1990-2014)].

Systematische Ubersicht und “Mapping” empirischer Studien des Gesundheitszustands und der medizinischen Versorgung von Fluchtlingen und Asylsuchenden in Deutschland (1990-2014). Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, 59(5), 599-620.

Cacioppo, J. T., Cacioppo, S., Capitanio, J. P., & Cole, S. W. (2015). The neuroendocrinology of social isolation. Annu Rev Psychol, 66, 733-767. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015240

Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A. (2010). Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Psychology and aging, 25(2), 453-463. doi:10.1037/a0017216

Cacioppo, J. T., Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A. (2006). Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Psychology and aging, 21(1), 140-151.

Canli, T. (2014a). Is depression an infectious disease?   Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dD29XHp6CU

Canli, T. (2014b). Reconceptualizing major depressive disorder as an infectious disease. Biol Mood Anxiety Disord, 4, 10. doi:10.1186/2045-5380-4-10

Canli, T. (2015). Is Depression an Infectious Disease? In T. Canli (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Molecular Psychology. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Canli, T., Wen, R., Wang, X., Mikhailik, A., Yu, L., Fleischman, D., . . . Bennett, D. A. (2016). Differential transcriptome expression in human nucleus accumbens as a function of loneliness. Molecular Psychiatry.

CDC. (2014). Parasites – Toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma infection).

Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Skoner, D. P., Rabin, B. S., & Gwaltney, J. M., Jr. (1997). Social ties and susceptibility to the common cold. JAMA, 277(24), 1940-1944.

Cole, S. W., Hawkley, L. C., Arevalo, J. M., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2011). Transcript origin analysis identifies antigen-presenting cells as primary targets of socially regulated gene expression in leukocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 108(7), 3080-3085. doi:1014218108 [pii]

10.1073/pnas.1014218108

Cole, S. W., Hawkley, L. C., Arevalo, J. M., Sung, C. Y., Rose, R. M., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). Social regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes. Genome Biol, 8(9), R189.

Cole, S. W., Kemeny, M. E., Fahey, J. L., Zack, J. A., & Naliboff, B. D. (2003). Psychological risk factors for HIV pathogenesis: mediation by the autonomic nervous system. Biol Psychiatry, 54(12), 1444-1456.

Dantzer, R., O’Connor, J. C., Freund, G. G., Johnson, R. W., & Kelley, K. W. (2008). From inflammation to sickness and depression: when the immune system subjugates the brain. Nat Rev Neurosci, 9(1), 46-56. doi:10.1038/nrn2297

Daskalakis, N. P., Cohen, H., Nievergelt, C. M., Baker, D. G., Buxbaum, J. D., Russo, S. J., & Yehuda, R. (2016). New translational perspectives for blood-based biomarkers of PTSD: From glucocorticoid to immune mediators of stress susceptibility. Experimental neurology, 284(Pt B), 133-140.

Fadgyas-Stanculete, M., Buga, A.-M., Popa-Wagner, A., & Dumitrascu, D. L. (2014). The relationship between irritable bowel syndrome and psychiatric disorders: from molecular changes to clinical manifestations. Journal of molecular psychiatry, 2(1), 4.

Fond, G., Loundou, A., Hamdani, N., Boukouaci, W., Dargel, A., Oliveira, J., . . . Boyer, L. (2014). Anxiety and depression comorbidities in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): a systematic review and meta-analysis. European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 264(8), 651-660.

Gammouh, O. S., Al-Smadi, A. M., Tawalbeh, L. I., & Khoury, L. S. (2015). Chronic diseases, lack of medications, and depression among Syrian refugees in Jordan, 2013-2014. Prev Chronic Dis, 12, E10.

Green, B. H., Copeland, J. R., Dewey, M. E., Sharma, V., Saunders, P. A., Davidson, I. A., . . . McWilliam, C. (1992). Risk factors for depression in elderly people: a prospective study. Acta Psychiatr Scand, 86(3), 213-217.

Holvast, F., Burger, H., de Waal, M. M., van Marwijk, H. W., Comijs, H. C., & Verhaak, P. F. (2015). Loneliness is associated with poor prognosis in late-life depression: Longitudinal analysis of the Netherlands study of depression in older persons. J Affect Disord, 185, 1-7. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.06.036

Houtjes, W., van Meijel, B., van de Ven, P. M., Deeg, D., van Tilburg, T., & Beekman, A. (2014). The impact of an unfavorable depression course on network size and loneliness in older people: a longitudinal study in the community. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 29(10), 1010-1017. doi:10.1002/gps.4091

Hsu, P. C., Groer, M., & Beckie, T. (2014). New findings: Depression, suicide, and Toxoplasma gondii infection. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. doi:10.1002/2327-6924.12129

Irwin, C., Falsetti, S. A., Lydiard, R. B., Ballenger, J. C., Brock, C. D., & Brener, W. (1996). Comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and irritable bowel syndrome. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 57(12), 576-578.

Jaremka, L. M., Andridge, R. R., Fagundes, C. P., Alfano, C. M., Povoski, S. P., Lipari, A. M., . . . Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2014). Pain, depression, and fatigue: loneliness as a longitudinal risk factor. Health Psychol, 33(9), 948-957. doi:10.1037/a0034012

Jefee-Bahloul, H., Barkil-Oteo, A., Pless-Mulloli, T., & Fouad, F. M. (2015). Mental health in the Syrian crisis: beyond immediate relief. Lancet (London, England), 386(10003), 1531.

Kappelmann, N., Lewis, G., Dantzer, R., Jones, P. B., & Khandaker, G. M. (2016). Antidepressant activity of anti-cytokine treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials of chronic inflammatory conditions. Molecular Psychiatry.

Kertes, D. A., Kamin, H. S., Hughes, D. A., Rodney, N. C., Bhatt, S., & Mulligan, C. J. (2016). Prenatal Maternal Stress Predicts Methylation of Genes Regulating the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical System in Mothers and Newborns in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Child development, 87(1), 61-72.

Lee, Y.-T., Hu, L.-Y., Shen, C.-C., Huang, M.-W., Tsai, S.-J., Yang, A. C., . . . Hung, J.-H. (2015). Risk of Psychiatric Disorders following Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study. PLoS One, 10(7), e0133283.

Lester, D. (2010). Brain parasites and suicide. Psychol Rep, 107(2), 424.

Luanaigh, C. O., & Lawlor, B. A. (2008). Loneliness and the health of older people. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 23(12), 1213-1221. doi:10.1002/gps.2054.

McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain. Physiol Rev, 87(3), 873-904.

Miller, A. H., Haroon, E., & Felger, J. C. (2016). Therapeutic Implications of Brain-Immune Interactions: Treatment in Translation. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Montoya, J. G., & Liesenfeld, O. (2004). Toxoplasmosis. Lancet, 363(9425), 1965-1976. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16412-X

Nausheen, B., Gidron, Y., Peveler, R., & Moss-Morris, R. (2009). Social support and cancer progression: a systematic review. J Psychosom Res, 67(5), 403-415. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.12.012

Neigh, G. N., & Ali, F. F. (2016). Co-morbidity of PTSD and immune system dysfunction: opportunities for treatment. Current opinion in pharmacology, 29, 104-110.

Nowotny, B., Cavka, M., Herder, C., Loffler, H., Poschen, U., Joksimovic, L., . . . Kruse, J. (2010). Effects of acute psychological stress on glucose metabolism and subclinical inflammation in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. Horm Metab Res, 42(10), 746-753. doi:10.1055/s-0030-1261924

Pace, T. W. W., & Heim, C. M. (2011). A short review on the psychoneuroimmunology of posttraumatic stress disorder: from risk factors to medical comorbidities. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 25(1), 6-13.

Passos, I. C., Vasconcelos-Moreno, M. P., Costa, L. G., Kunz, M., Brietzke, E., Quevedo, J., . . . Kauer-Sant’Anna, M. (2015). Inflammatory markers in post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression. The lancet Psychiatry, 2(11), 1002-1012.

Petitte, T., Mallow, J., Barnes, E., Petrone, A., Barr, T., & Theeke, L. (2015). A Systematic Review of Loneliness and Common Chronic Physical Conditions in Adults. Open Psychol J, 8(Suppl 2), 113-132. doi:10.2174/1874350101508010113

Pfortmueller, C. A., Schwetlick, M., Mueller, T., Lehmann, B., & Exadaktylos, A. K. (2016). Adult Asylum Seekers from the Middle East Including Syria in Central Europe: What Are Their Health Care Problems? PLoS One, 11(2), e0148196.

Rodney, N. C., & Mulligan, C. J. (2014). A biocultural study of the effects of maternal stress on mother and newborn health in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Am J Phys Anthropol, 155(2), 200-209.

Rusiecki, J. A., Byrne, C., Galdzicki, Z., Srikantan, V., Chen, L., Poulin, M., . . . Baccarelli, A. (2013). PTSD and DNA Methylation in Select Immune Function Gene Promoter Regions: A Repeated Measures Case-Control Study of U.S. Military Service Members. Front Psychiatry, 4, 56.

Sibelli, A., Chalder, T., Everitt, H., Workman, P., Windgassen, S., & Moss-Morris, R. (2016). A systematic review with meta-analysis of the role of anxiety and depression in irritable bowel syndrome onset. Psychological medicine, 46(15), 3065-3080.

Song, S. J., Kaplan, C., Tol, W. A., Subica, A., & de Jong, J. (2015). Psychological distress in torture survivors: pre- and post-migration risk factors in a US sample. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 50(4), 549-560.

Strijk, P. J. M., van Meijel, B., & Gamel, C. J. (2011). Health and social needs of traumatized refugees and asylum seekers: an exploratory study. Perspectives in psychiatric care, 47(1), 48-55.

Torrey, E. F., Bartko, J. J., Lun, Z. R., & Yolken, R. H. (2007). Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. Schizophr Bull, 33(3), 729-736. doi:sbl050 [pii]

10.1093/schbul/sbl050

Torrey, E. F., Bartko, J. J., & Yolken, R. H. (2012). Toxoplasma gondii and other risk factors for schizophrenia: an update. Schizophr Bull, 38(3), 642-647. doi:sbs043 [pii]10.1093/schbul/sbs043

Wilson, R. S., Krueger, K. R., Arnold, S. E., Schneider, J. A., Kelly, J. F., Barnes, L. L., . . . Bennett, D. A. (2007). Loneliness and risk of Alzheimer disease. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 64(2), 234-240.

 

Published on February 1, 2017.

Share:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email