The role of inflammation and oxidative stress in depression and cardiovascular disease

Abstract Stress initiates a cascade of complex neural and peripheral changes that promote healthy adaption to stress, but when unabated, leads to pathology. For example, inflammation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in neural and cardiovascular function, however their accumulation in either brain or cardiac tissue results in disease. Moreover, both inflammatory dysfunction and ROS accumulation is evident in major depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This chapter will focus on discussing mechanisms by which stress acts as a catalyst for accumulation of inflammatory factors or adaptive immunity dysfunction and/or ROS in brain and cardiovascular tissues, thereby promoting the comorbidity between psychiatric disorders and CVD.