ArticleNeurology2011
Proinflammatory cytokines, sickness behavior, and Alzheimer disease.
Article in Neurology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 113 papers, 6 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
113 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 239 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inflammatory Markers and their Relationship with Cognitive Function in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuromolecular medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Association of Peripheral Blood Cell Profile With Alzheimer's Disease: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Outcomes of postoperative delirium in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The cellular model for Alzheimer's disease research: PC12 cells.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Brain mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review of symptom-general and -specific lesion patterns.Molecular neurodegeneration · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review of the overlap of fluid biomarkers in delirium and advanced cancer-related syndromes.BMC psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Hypertonic saline for prevention of delirium in geriatric patients who underwent hip surgery.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2017Trial
- Etanercept in Alzheimer disease: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 trial.Neurology · 2015Trial
- Fast-track surgery decreases the incidence of postoperative delirium and other complications in elderly patients with colorectal carcinoma.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2014Trial
- An ApoE-Associated Low-Inflammatory Microglial State Emerges After Inflammatory Challenge in Alzheimer's Disease Mice.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Pretreatment with the psychedelic DOI mitigates LPS-induced hippocampal inflammation and behavioral impairments in mice.BMC neuroscience · 2026Article
- Selective Inhibition of Tumor Necrosis Factor for Attenuating Alzheimer's Disease: Strategies Targeting Neuroinflammation.Inflammation · 2026Review
- Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: Bridging mechanisms, management, and emerging innovations.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Review
- Mechanical Ventilation Suppresses Glymphatic Function in Parallel with Delirium-Like Symptoms in Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Lessons on catatonia with or without delirium on the consultation-liaison psychiatry service in a Lebanese tertiary care center: a retrospective chart review of 36 cases of catatonia.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Medical risk factors, ApoE haplotype, and Alzheimer's disease: a large-scale analysis.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Article
- Systemic inflammation as a central player in the initiation and development of Alzheimer's disease.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2025Review
- Black raspberry supplementation on overweight and Helicobacter pylori infected mild dementia patients a pilot study.NPJ science of food · 2025Article
- Neuroinflammatory mechanisms may help identify candidate biomarkers in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).Free neuropathology · 2025Review
- Exploring the Potential of Probiotics and Prebiotics in Major Depression: From Molecular Function to Clinical Therapy.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2024Review
53 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn Alzheimer disease (AD), systemic inflammation is known to give rise to a delirium. However, systemic inflammation also gives rise to other centrally mediated symptoms in the absence of a delirium, a concept known as sickness behavior. Systemic inflammation is characterized by the systemic production of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) that mediate immune to brain communication and the development of sickness behavior.
objectiveTo determine if raised serum TNFα or IL-6 are associated with the presence of sickness behavior symptoms, independent of the development of delirium, in a prospective cohort study of subjects with AD.
methodsA total of 300 subjects with mild to severe AD were cognitively assessed at baseline and a blood sample taken for inflammatory markers. Cognitive assessments, including assessments to detect the development of a delirium, and blood samples were repeated at 2, 4, and 6 months. The development of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the subject with AD over the 6-month follow-up period was assessed independently by carer interview at 2, 4, and 6 months.
resultsRaised serum TNFα and IL-6, but not CRP, were associated with an approximately 2-fold increased frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms characteristic of sickness behavior. These relationships are independent of the development of delirium.
conclusionsIncreased serum proinflammatory cytokines are associated with the presence of symptoms characteristic of sickness behavior, which are common neuropsychiatric features found in AD. This association was independent of the presence of delirium.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.