Andrew Harkin

TL;DR: A key role for mononuclear phagocytes in the pathogenesis of major psychiatric disorders is described and it is shown that microglia activation impacts neuronal development and function in brain areas congruent with the altered depressive and schizophrenia‐like behaviors.

TL;DR: It is reported that NO synthase antagonists are as efficacious as imipramine in reducing the duration of immobility in the mouse forced swim test, and this data support the hypothesis that NO synthesis antagonists possess antidepressant properties and may represent a novel class of therapeutics for major depressive disorders.

TL;DR: These data are the first to demonstrate that a systemic inflammatory challenge stimulates KMO expression in brain; a situation that is likely to favour kynurenine metabolism in a neurotoxic direction, however, the observation that expression of KAT II is much higher than KMO in rat brain islikely to counteract potential neurotoxicity that could arise from KMO induction following an acute inflammation.

TL;DR: It is suggested that depressive and anxiety-like behaviours elicited by poly I:C are associated with a reduction in BDNF signalling, and activation of the kynurenine pathway, but not a reduce in serotonin.

TL;DR: Investigation of synergistic interactions between nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitors and antidepressants in the mouse forced swim test (FST) supports a view that antidepressant effects, or enhancement of such effects in the FST, may be elicited via NO synthase inhibition and raises the possibility that inhibition ofNO synthase could be used as a strategy to enhance the clinical efficacy of serotonergic antidepressants.