Trial reportThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences1999
Life stress, mood disturbance, and elevated interleukin-6 in healthy older women.
Trial report in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 1999. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04137913 (Project CHROMA), which is not on this map. Cited by 80 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Project CHROMA (Cognitive Health Research on Musical Arts)
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Impact of Chronic Stress on Treatment Outcomes of Cancer Patients with Divergent Survival Rates: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Is Family Caregiving Associated With Inflammation or Compromised Immunity? A Meta-Analysis.The Gerontologist · 2019Pooled it
- Health-and disease-related biomarkers in aging research.Research in gerontological nursing · 2009Pooled it
- Effects of Psychosocial Interventions and Caregiving Stress on Cardiovascular Biomarkers in Family Dementia Caregivers: The UCSD Pleasant Events Program (PEP) Randomized Controlled Trial.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2020Trial
- Depressive symptoms and cortisol rhythmicity predict survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma: role of inflammatory signaling.PloS one · 2012Trial
- Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2009Trial
- Trial
- Mild acute inflammatory stimulation induces transient negative mood.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2004Trial
- Depression and anxiety are associated with increased complications after penile prosthesis surgery: a retrospective cohort study.International journal of impotence research · 2026Article
- Sexual minority adults exhibit greater inflammation than heterosexual adults in the context of depressive symptoms and anxiety: Pathways to health disparities.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- Chronic Stress-Associated Depressive Disorders: The Impact of HPA Axis Dysregulation and Neuroinflammation on the Hippocampus-A Mini Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Associations between depressive and anxiety symptoms and incident kidney failure in patients with diabetic nephropathy.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Positive psychological effects of seated acupressure massage are associated with a rise in plasma oxytocin without affecting CGRP levels or circulating IL-6.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Understanding the health effects of caregiving stress: New directions in molecular aging.Ageing research reviews · 2023Review
- Support-Giving Is Associated With Lower Systemic Inflammation.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2023Article
- Stress- and drug-induced neuroimmune signaling as a therapeutic target for comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 2022Review
- Microglia as Central Protagonists in the Chronic Stress Response.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2022Review
- Impact of meibomian gland dysfunction on quality of life and mental health in a clinical sample in Ghana: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Review
- Evaluation of Common Factors of Periodontitis and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with the Acute Coronary Syndrome.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough adverse effects of severe chronic stress on immunocompetence and physical well-being in older adults have been reported, the immune response to less severe life stress among healthy older adults, particularly among women, is not well understood. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been considered a good overall indicator of immune functioning in older adults because of its contribution to the pathogenesis of several age-related conditions such as osteoporosis. Regulation of IL-6 is impaired in elderly adults, and levels of IL-6 increase with stress and depression. This research cross-sectionally examined levels of IL-6 in three groups of healthy older women with varying levels of life stress and mood disturbance and a healthy group of young women.
methodsSubjects included 18 caregivers of Alzheimer's patients, 17 older women assessed one month before relocation of their residence, 15 nonmoving and noncaregiving older women, and 20 younger women. Subjects completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and had early morning blood draws.
resultsAlzheimer's caregivers reported significantly greater distress than women of all other groups. IL-6 levels in caregivers were significantly higher than those of all other women. The older women had significantly higher IL-6 than young controls, but there were no significant differences in IL-6 between movers and older controls. Among all women, greater depression and distress were related to higher levels of IL-6.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that in older women, chronic stressors are associated with significant elevations in IL-6 over and above the elevations associated with normal aging, but that moderate stressors may not be related to appreciable elevations in IL-6.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.