SynthesisNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2011
The effect of antidepressant medication treatment on serum levels of inflammatory cytokines: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03878160 (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Delivered Via Group Videoconferencing for Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients With Elevated Depression Symptoms), which is not on this map. Cited by 386 papers, 10 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.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Delivered Via Group Videoconferencing for Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients With Elevated Depression Symptoms
Who cites it
386 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 903 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sertraline as an Antidepressant and Inflammatory Cytokines in Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trials.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Altered Cytokine Levels in the First Episode of Major Depression and in Antidepressant-Naïve Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Overlapping cytokines inFrontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Antidepressants for COVID-19: A systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Antidepressant Effects of NSAIDs in Rodent Models of Depression-A Systematic Review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Inflammation and depression in young people: a systematic review and proposed inflammatory pathways.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Increased C-reactive protein concentration and suicidal behavior in people with psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica · 2021Pooled it
- Gene-disease association study of tumor necrosis factor-α G-308A gene polymorphism with risk of major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2020Pooled it
- Peripheral cytokine levels and response to antidepressant treatment in depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- The relationship between serum resolvin D1, NLRP3, cytokine levels, and adolescents with first-episode medication-naïve major depressive disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Evaluation of a preemptive intervention regimen with hesperidin methyl chalcone in delayed-onset muscle soreness in young adults: a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial study.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Trial
- Results of the Optimune trial: A randomized controlled trial evaluating a novel Internet intervention for breast cancer survivors.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Expression and Functionality Study of 9 Toll-Like Receptors in 33 Drug-Naïve Non-Affective First Episode Psychosis Individuals: A 3-Month Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Trial
- Biomarkers for response in major depression: comparing paroxetine and venlafaxine from two randomised placebo-controlled clinical studies.Translational psychiatry · 2019Trial
- In Vitro Investigation of the Toxicity Mechanisms of Antidepressant Drugs on Adipose Tissue in 3T3-L1 Cells.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- From depression to bone health: examining the skeletal effects of classical and rapid-acting antidepressants.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Chronic stress and cancer progression through neuro‑endocrine‑immune networks (Review).Oncology reports · 2026Review
- Dysregulation of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB Signaling Pathway and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in First-Episode Major Depressive Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Case-Control Study.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Article
- Review
326 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
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, for example, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-1 beta (IL-1β), are elevated in subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD). The reason why this occurs is unclear. Elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines could be a result of brain dysfunction in MDD. It is also possible that inflammatory cytokines contribute to depressive symptoms in MDD. If the first assumption is correct, one would expect levels to normalize with resolution of the depressive episode after treatment. Several studies have measured changes in cytokine levels during antidepressant treatment; however, the results vary. The purpose of this study was to pool all available data on changes in serum levels of TNFα, IL-6, and IL-1β during antidepressant treatment to determine whether these levels change. Studies were included if they used an approved pharmacological treatment for depression, patients had a diagnosis of MDD, and serum levels of TNFα, IL-6, and/or IL-1β were measured before and after treatment. Twenty-two studies fulfilled these criteria. Meta-analysis of these studies showed that, overall, while pharmacological antidepressant treatment reduced depressive symptoms, it did not reduce serum levels of TNFα. On the other hand, antidepressant treatment did reduce levels of IL-1β and possibly those of IL-6. Stratified subgroup analysis by class of antidepressant indicated that serotonin reuptake inhibitors may reduce levels of IL-6 and TNFα. Other antidepressants, while efficacious for depressive symptoms, did not appear to reduce cytokine levels. These results argue against the notion that resolution of a depressive episode is associated with normalization of levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines; however, the results are consistent with the possibility that inflammatory cytokines contribute to depressive symptoms and that antidepressants block the effects of inflammatory cytokines on the brain.
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.