ArticlePloS one2009
Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and growth factors called into question as markers of prolonged psychosocial stress.
Article in PloS one, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chemokines in depression in health and in inflammatory illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of chemokines in major depression.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2016Pooled it
- Systematic review of the evidence of a relationship between chronic psychosocial stress and C-reactive protein.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2013Pooled it
- Evaluation of inflammatory cytokines in drug-naïve major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of immunopathology and pharmacologyPooled it
- Effectiveness of a person-centred eHealth intervention in reducing symptoms of burnout in patients with common mental disorders - secondary outcome analysis of a randomized controlled trial.BMC primary care · 2023Trial
- Clinical and screening utility of the Burnout Assessment Tool: A comparative evaluation of BAT23, BAT12 and BAT4 in Sweden.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2026Article
- Brexanolone infusion produces sustained anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic effects in patients with postpartum depression that predict symptom improvement.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Study of Effects of Topical Fluorometholone on Tear MCP-1 in Eyes Undergoing Trabeculectomy: Effect on Early Trabeculectomy Outcomes in Asian Glaucoma Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- By what molecular mechanisms do social determinants impact cardiometabolic risk?Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2023Review
- The Association of Biochemical and Genetic Biomarkers in VEGF Pathway with Depression.Pharmaceutics · 2022Article
- Exhaustion disorder: scoping review of research on a recently introduced stress-related diagnosis.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- Isoforms of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor in stress-related mental disorders: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Is obsessive-compulsive personality disorder related to stress-related exhaustion?Brain and behavior · 2021Article
- "Who I Am Now, Is More Me." An Interview Study of Patients' Reflections 10 Years After Exhaustion Disorder.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Depression and Cardiovascular Disease: The Viewpoint of Platelets.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- Long-term follow-up of residual symptoms in patients treated for stress-related exhaustion.BMC psychology · 2020Article
- The Impact of Cytokines on the Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Article
- MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Endocrine and immunological aspects of burnout: a narrative review.European journal of endocrinology · 2019Review
- Reduced self-regulation mirrors the distorting effects of burnout symptomatology on task difficulty perception during an inhibition task.Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2018Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPsychosocial stress is becoming a major contributor to increased mental ill-health and sick leave in many countries. Valid markers of chronic stress would be valuable for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. A recent study suggested monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as markers of chronic stress. We aimed to confirm these potential biomarkers of prolonged psychosocial stress in female patients. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsCirculating levels of MCP-1, EGF and VEGF, along with several other cytokines, were measured in plasma from 42 female patients suffering from exhaustion due to prolonged psychosocial stress and 42 control subjects, using a protein biochip immunoassay. There were no significant differences between patients and controls in any of the cytokines or growth factors analyzed. Furthermore, when using a different protein bioassay and reanalyzing MCP-1 and VEGF in the same samples, markedly different levels were obtained. To further explore if inflammation is present in patients with exhaustion, the classical inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured in another group of patients (n=89) and controls (n=88) showing a small but significant increase of CRP levels in the patients. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: MCP-1, EGF and VEGF may not be suitable markers of prolonged psychosocial stress as previously suggested. Furthermore, significant differences were obtained when using two different protein assays measuring the same samples, indicating that comparing studies where different analytic techniques have been used might be difficult. Increased levels of CRP indicate that low-grade inflammation might be present in patients with exhaustion due to prolonged stress exposure but this inflammation does not seem to be reflected by increase in circulating MCP-1 or other cytokines measured.
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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.