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Viruses and psychiatric disorders: We have not crossed the borderline from hypothesis to proof yet (Review)

  • Authors:
    • Nikolaos Siafakas
    • Cleo Anastassopoulou
    • Spyridon Pournaras
    • Athanasios Tsakris
    • Evangelos Alevizakis
    • Stylianos Kympouropoulos
    • Demetrios A. Spandidos
    • Emmanouil Rizos
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: December 31, 2024     https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2024.13426
  • Article Number: 61
  • Copyright: © Siafakas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Most psychiatric disorders are heterogeneous and are attributed to the synergistic action of a multitude of factors. It is generally accepted that psychiatric disorders are the outcome of interactions between genetic predisposition and environmental perturbations, which involve psychosocial stress, or alterations in the physiological state of the organism. A number of hypotheses have been presented on such environmental influences that may include direct insults such as injury, malnutrition and hostile living conditions, or indirect sequelae following infection from viruses such as influenza, arboviruses, enteroviruses and several herpesviruses, or the differential expression of human endogenous retroviruses. It is known that the concept of viruses is far more extensive than their perception as mere agents of acute infections, or chronic debilitating diseases, such as AIDS or some forms of cancer. Notably, an apparent causal connection between viruses and the pathophysiology of diseases has been suggested; however, it remains unclear as to how to establish this causal connection. There are inherent difficulties in answering this question with certainty, which may be due to the multitude of genetic and environmental influences that can lead to psychopathology; the latent state of chronic infection exhibited by a number of neurotropic viruses; the late onset of psychiatric disorders with respect to the acute phase of viral infection at which detection tests would be successful; the complexity of the virome; and the existence of thousands of viral species. The present review aims to provide an outline of the conclusions that have thus far been reached regarding a possible association between viral infection and psychiatric disease, and the obstacles confronted during the quest for the truth behind the role of viruses.
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March-2025
Volume 31 Issue 3

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Spandidos Publications style
Siafakas N, Anastassopoulou C, Pournaras S, Tsakris A, Alevizakis E, Kympouropoulos S, Spandidos DA and Rizos E: Viruses and psychiatric disorders: We have not crossed the borderline from hypothesis to proof yet (Review). Mol Med Rep 31: 61, 2025.
APA
Siafakas, N., Anastassopoulou, C., Pournaras, S., Tsakris, A., Alevizakis, E., Kympouropoulos, S. ... Rizos, E. (2025). Viruses and psychiatric disorders: We have not crossed the borderline from hypothesis to proof yet (Review). Molecular Medicine Reports, 31, 61. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2024.13426
MLA
Siafakas, N., Anastassopoulou, C., Pournaras, S., Tsakris, A., Alevizakis, E., Kympouropoulos, S., Spandidos, D. A., Rizos, E."Viruses and psychiatric disorders: We have not crossed the borderline from hypothesis to proof yet (Review)". Molecular Medicine Reports 31.3 (2025): 61.
Chicago
Siafakas, N., Anastassopoulou, C., Pournaras, S., Tsakris, A., Alevizakis, E., Kympouropoulos, S., Spandidos, D. A., Rizos, E."Viruses and psychiatric disorders: We have not crossed the borderline from hypothesis to proof yet (Review)". Molecular Medicine Reports 31, no. 3 (2025): 61. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2024.13426