Maternal Immune activation, Mitochondria Dysfunction, Innate & adaptive Immunity, Epigenetics and Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric disorders

Val's Note:  There is some important information here --- even if it's jumbled.

The main thing is to start thinking of other systems and processes than we are used to with regard to neuro-developmental & psychiatric disorders.

The epigenetic encoded memory of the innate immune system (2020)

How do innate immune cells affect epigenetic changes?

• Stimulation or infection of innate immune cells induces profound epigenetic changes, including the induction of histone modifications and alterations in DNA methylation levels.
  

Mitochondrial dysfunction as a trigger of innate immune responses and inflammation (2017)

• Much research on mitochondrial control of immunity now centers on understanding how mitochondrial constituents released during cellular damage simulate the innate immune system.
• When mitochondrial integrity is compromised, mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns engage pattern recognition receptors, trigger inflammation, and promote pathology in an expanding list of diseases.
  

Epigenetics and the Adaptive Immune Response (2013)

" Cells of the adaptive immune response undergo dynamic epigenetic changes as they develop and respond to immune challenge.

"Plasticity is a necessary prerequisite for the chromosomal dynamics of lineage specification, development, and the immune effector function of the mature cell types."

Mitochondrial dysfunction in psychiatric disorders (2022)

"Growing evidence indicates that mitochondrial function plays an important role in developing psychiatric disorders."

And Mitochondrial dysfunction also plays an important role in other deseases:

Mitochondrial dysfunction and psychiatric disorders (2009)

• Damage to the mitochondrial electron transport chain has been suggested to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of a range of psychiatric disorders.
• Tissues with high energy demands, such as the brain, contain a large number of mitochondria, being therefore more susceptible to reduction of the aerobic metabolism.-
• Mitochondrial dysfunction results from alterations in biochemical cascade and the damage to the mitochondrial electron transport chain has been suggested to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia.
  

Epigenetics of Ageing and Psychiatric Disorders (2024)

"In the near future, we might be able to replace chronological age with biological age, based on the epigenetic clock, with the promise of providing greater therapeutic benefits.

"A wide range of epigenetic drugs are currently under development at various stages.

"Although their full effectiveness is yet to be realized, they show great potential in the treatment of cancer, psychiatric disorders, and other complex diseases."

Epigenetics and ADHD: Reflections on Current Knowledge, Research Priorities and Translational Potential (2022)

"Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common and debilitating neurodevelopmental disorder influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, typically identified in the school-age years but hypothesized to have developmental origins beginning in utero."

. . .

"Epigenetic processes that regulate gene expression, such as DNA methylation, have emerged as a promising molecular system in the search for both biomarkers and mechanisms to address this
challenge. "

Epigenetic mechanism of SETDB1 in brain: implications for neuropsychiatric disorders (2020)

Neuropsychiatric disorders are a collective of cerebral conditions with a multifactorial and polygenetic etiology.

Dysregulation of epigenetic profiles in the brain is considered to play a critical role in the development of neuropsychiatric disorders.

SET domain, bifurcate 1 (SETDB1), functioning as a histone H3K9 specific methyltransferase, is not only critically involved in transcriptional silencing and local heterochromatin formation, but also affects genome-wide neuronal epigenetic profiles and is essential for 3D genome integrity.

Here, we provide a review of recent advances towards understanding the role of SETDB1 in the central nervous system during early neurodevelopment as well as in the adult brain, with a particular focus on studies that link its functions to neuropsychiatric disorders and related behavioral changes, and the exploration of novel therapeutic strategies targeting SETDB1.

Maternal inflammation during pregnancy and offspring brain development: the role of mitochondria (2022)

Energy Constraints on Brain Network Formation (2021)

Val's Take/Conjecture:  I think we could all benefit from eating a better diet, but I think the "hyper-connected brains" of people with neuro-developmental and psychiatric disorders are putting a big strain on the energy needs of the brain.

Unfortunately, this is often coupled with Mitochondrial Dysfunction that seems also to arise from Maternal Immune Activation.