As the professional phagocytes of the brain, microglia orchestrate the immunological response and play an increasingly important role in maintaining homeostatic brain functions. Microglia are activated by pathological events or slight alterations in brain homeostasis. This activation is dependent on the context and type of stressor or pathology. Through secretion of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors, microglia can strongly influence the response to a stressor and can, therefore, determine the pathological outcome. Psychopathologies have repeatedly been associated with long-lasting priming and sensitization of cerebral microglia. This review focuses on the diversity of microglial phenotype and function in health and psychiatric disease. We first discuss the diverse homeostatic functions performed by microglia and then elaborate on context-specific spatial and temporal microglial heterogeneity. Subsequently, we summarize microglia involvement in psychopathologies, namely major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with a particular focus on post-mortem studies. Finally, we postulate microglia as a promising novel therapeutic target in psychiatry through antidepressant and antipsychotic treatment.

作为大脑的专业吞噬细胞，小胶质细胞协调免疫反应，在维持大脑稳态功能方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。小胶质细胞被病理事件或脑内稳态的轻微改变激活。这种激活取决于压力源或病理的背景和类型。通过分泌细胞因子、趋化因子和生长因子，小胶质细胞可以强烈影响对应激源的反应，因此可以决定病理结果。精神病理学一再与脑小胶质细胞的持久启动和致敏有关。本综述侧重于健康和精神疾病中小胶质细胞表型和功能的多样性。我们首先讨论小胶质细胞执行的多种稳态功能，然后详细说明特定于上下文的空间和时间小胶质细胞异质性。随后，我们总结了小胶质细胞参与精神病理学，即重度抑郁症、精神分裂症和双相情感障碍，特别关注验尸研究。最后，我们假设小胶质细胞通过抗抑郁药和抗精神病药治疗成为精神病学中一个有前途的新型治疗靶点。