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. 2024;22(12):2016-2033.
doi: 10.2174/1570159X22666240130091235.

Glymphatic System and Psychiatric Disorders: A Rapid Comprehensive Scoping Review

Tommaso Barlattani  1 , Paolo Grandinetti  2 , Alexsander Di Cintio  1 , Alessio Montemagno  1 , Roberta Testa  2 , Chiara D'Amelio  1 , Luigi Olivieri  2 , Carmine Tomasetti  2 , Alessandro Rossi  1 , Francesca Pacitti  1 , Domenico De Berardis  2
Affiliations

Glymphatic System and Psychiatric Disorders: A Rapid Comprehensive Scoping Review

Tommaso Barlattani et al. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2024.

Abstract

Background: Since discovering the glymphatic system, there has been a looming interest in exploring its relationship with psychiatric disorders. Recently, increasing evidence suggests an involvement of the glymphatic system in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. However, clear data are still lacking. In this context, this rapid comprehensive PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) scoping review aims to identify and analyze current evidence about the relation between the glymphatic system and psychiatric disorders.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature and then proceeded to discuss the findings narratively. Tables were then constructed and articles were sorted according to authors, year, title, location of study, sample size, psychiatric disorder, the aim of the study, principal findings, implications.

Results: Twenty papers were identified as eligible, among which 2 articles on Schizophrenia, 1 on Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2 on Depression, 1 on Depression and Trauma-related Disorders, 1 on Depression and Anxiety, 2 on Anxiety and Sleep Disorders, 8 on Sleep Disorders, 2 on Alcohol use disorder and 1 on Cocaine Use Disorder.

Conclusion: This review suggests a correlation between the glymphatic system and several psychiatric disorders: Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Alcohol Use Disorder, Cocaine Use Disorder, Trauma-Related Disorders, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Impairment of the glymphatic system could play a role in Trauma-Related Disorders, Alcohol Use Disorders, Cocaine Use Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Depression, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. It is important to implement research on this topic and adopt standardized markers and radio diagnostic tools.

Keywords: Glymphatic system; aquaporin-4; astrocytes; depression.; mood disorders; psychiatric disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.

Figures

Fig. (1)
Fig. (1)
Common physiopathological trajectories between Psychiatric Disorders and Glymphatic System involvement. Adapted from Schubert et al. 2019.
Fig. (2)
Fig. (2)
PRISMA 2020 flow diagram of included studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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