Is atypical depression a clinically and genetically distinct subtype?

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A large Australian study suggests that atypical depression is genetically, metabolically and clinically distinct, with poorer response to SSRIs and SNRIs.

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Can positive expectations tune the immune system?

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Can training your brain’s reward circuits strengthen your immune response to vaccination? A new randomised controlled trial offers some fascinating early clues.

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Oxytocin and affection: does intimacy help wounds heal faster?

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Oxytocin alone didn’t speed wound healing in couples, but combined with affectionate touch and partner appreciation, it showed modest benefits. Social context matters more than hormones.

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Vitamin C, gut bacteria, and mental vitality: early findings

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In this small RCT, vitamin C supplementation improved attention and work absorption in healthy young adults with low vitamin C levels, alongside changes in gut bacteria and inflammation markers.

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Anti-inflammatories for depression: targeting the right patients matters

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Decades of disappointing anti-inflammatory trials for depression may have failed because they weren’t targeting the right patients. New meta-analysis shows promising results when they do.

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Is depression a cause or consequence? Using genetics to untangle causal relationships

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This study used Mendelian randomisation to test potential causal relationships between depression and 137 traits. Depression liability was linked to somatic diseases, inflammation, suicide risk, insomnia, lower cognitive function and functional impairments, though findings require validation.

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Does the flu shot make you feel sick? What this randomised trial tells us about vaccine-induced inflammation

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Although a flu vaccine activated the immune system and raised cytokine levels in this randomised trial, participants didn’t feel substantially different from the placebo group. Vaccine models can help study subtle inflammation effects.

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suPAR step forward? Teenage trauma linked to chronic inflammation in new study

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Not all childhood trauma has the same biological impact. A new study finds that adversity in late childhood is most strongly linked to immune dysregulation at age 24.

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Putting oil on the fire: Do people with high inflammation react differently to immune stress?

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Inflammation is a key factor in depression for many people. This new RCT used an experimental immune challenge to explore how individuals with high inflammation respond differently—shedding light on a distinct biological subtype of depression.

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What’s in the blood? Immune cell changes in schizophrenia

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Dr Fabiana Corsi-Zuelli discusses the differences in immune cell counts in patients with schizophrenia compared to controls; highlighting a recent meta-analysis by Dudeck et al. (2025) that reinforces the growing consensus that immune dysfunction plays a role in schizophrenia.

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