Each year, the Aarhus University Research Foundation (AUFF) awards prizes to particularly talented PhD graduates from the university. This year, Medical Doctor and PhD Ole Köhler-Forsberg from Health is among the award winners. He has demonstrated that the immune system can be so closely connected with mental disorders that anti-inflammatory drugs may help to treat depression.

2020.06.04 | Sabina Bjerre Hansen

Ole Köhler-Forsberg from the Department of Clinical Medicine receives one of AUFF’s PhD awards of DKK 50,000. Photo: Anne Kring.

When Ole Köhler-Forsberg as a medical student first heard of psychoneuroimmunology, it immediately attracted his attention. The research field, which was still in its infancy at the time, combined several of his own interests: the psyche, the brain and the immune system. Within this field, researchers examine the interaction between systems, each of which is extremely complex.

“For a very long time, the brain and the immune system were believed to be two separate systems. This is despite the fact that throughout history there have been many observations showing that immune system diseases can easily affect the psyche. However, it was believed that the blood-brain barrier, which separates the brain tissue from the blood, protected the brain and that the brain therefore didn’t have an immune system,” explains Ole Köhler-Forsberg.

In his PhD, Ole Köhler-Forsberg has contributed to new knowledge in the field, partly through meta-analysis, which compiles the results of a large amount of international research, and partly through extensive Danish registry studies. Both support the overall conclusion of his dissertation, namely that many different anti-inflammatory drugs which have an effect on the immune system, may also have an antidepressant effect.

They do help

“In our meta-analysis we took a closer look at what the clinical studies in the area show us about different drugs and patient groups. Based on these studies of a total of about 10,000 people, it is clear that anti-inflammatory treatment actually has an effect on depression,” states Ole Köhler-Forsberg. One important finding in this context is that almost all of the many types of drugs used in the trials appear to have the desired effect.

“Many of the studies look at drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis, because depression is seen more frequently among people suffering from pain conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. However, drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis may have severe side effects and can actually be dangerous to heart patients, which is another group of patients who often suffer from depression. So it’s good that cholesterol-lowering drugs, among others, have also proven to have an effect on these patients,” says Ole Köhler-Forsberg.

Studied Danes

He has substantiated these findings through extensive studies of Danes via the Danish Health Authority's registers, as these provide unique opportunities for investigating combinations of drugs across an entire population. And other researchers are now carrying his research further: Several current clinical studies are based on findings from the large register-based study, and Ole Köhler-Forsberg hopes that it will in the long-term be possible to help many of the patients suffering from depression who do not react particularly well to antidepressant drugs alone.

“Perhaps the mental health sector should begin to take blood samples to measure the degree of infection found in patients suffering from depression. But a lot more research is needed to determine how the treatment should be adjusted to the individual patient,” he notes.

Ole Köhler-Forsberg works as a medical doctor, but also holds a position as part-time lecturer. He is presently examining which subgroups of patients suffering from depression may benefit from anti-inflammatory drugs.

Learn more about his research in the video on the AUFF website (available in Danish only), and read about the other award winners on the university's website (English version will follow).

This coverage is based on press material from the Aarhus University Research Foundation.

Contact

MS, PhD Ole Köhler-Forsberg
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital - Mental Health Services, Psychosis Research Unit
Mobile: (+45) 23 42 06 61
Email: karkoe@rm.dk