A multidisciplinary approach to mental illness: do inflammation, telomere length and microbiota form a loop? A protocol for a cross-sectional study on the complex relationship between inflammation, telomere length, gut microbiota and psychiatric disorders.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:Severe psychiatric disorders are typically associated with a significant reduction in life expectancy compared with the general population. Among the different hypotheses formulated to explain this observation, accelerated ageing has been increasingly recognised as the main culprit. At the same time, telomere shortening is becoming widely accepted as a proxy molecular marker of ageing. The present study aims to fill a gap in the literature by better defining the complex interaction/s between inflammation, age-related comorbidities, telomere shortening and gut microbiota in psychiatric disorders. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:A cross-sectional study is proposed, recruiting 40 patients for each of three different diagnostic categories (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and major depressive

SUBMITTER: Manchia M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7045141 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature