Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25596176›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2015

Effects of chronic interpersonal stress exposure on depressive symptoms are moderated by genetic variation at IL6 and IL1β in youth.

Margaret Tartter, Constance Hammen, Julienne E Bower, Patricia A Brennan, Steven Cole

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  4. Genetic Contributions of Inflammation to Depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2017
    Pooled it
  5. Biomedicines · 2026
    Review
  6. Review
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  9. Interplay between Stressful Life Events and Interleukin-1β on 12-week Antidepressant Response in Depressive Patients.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
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  19. Review
  20. Role of Interleukin-6 in Depressive Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Margaret TartterDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Electronic address: MTartter@ucla.edu.
Constance HammenDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Julienne E BowerDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Patricia A BrennanDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Steven ColeDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
University of California, Los Angeles · USEmory University · US

Funding

USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography &Population HealthP30AG017265 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI JENNIFER A AILSHIRE · 1999 to 2026
$17.9M
RESEARCH TRAINING: PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL SCIENCEST32MH017140 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI LEUCHTER, ANDREW F · 1985 to 2012
$3.2M
TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD IN YOUTH AT RISK FOR DEPRESSIONR01MH052239 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI BRENNAN, PATRICIA A · 1995 to 2004
$1.8M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG017265NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH052239NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH52239NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH017140
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsClose to one third of patients with major depression show increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are in turn associated with risk for inflammatory disease. Genetic variants that enhance immune reactivity may thus enhance inflammatory and depressive reactions to stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate a trio of functional SNPs in the promoter regions of IL6 (-174G>C, rs1800795), IL1β (-511C>T, rs16944), and TNF (-308G>A, rs1800629) as moderators of the relationship between chronic stress exposure and elevations in depressive symptoms.

methodsParticipants were 444 Australian youth (mean age=20.12) whose exposure to chronic stress in the past 6months was assessed using the semi-structured UCLA Life Stress Interview, and who completed the Beck Depression Inventory II at ages 15 and 20. Between ages 22 and 25, all participants in the selected sample provided blood samples for genotyping.

resultsIn line with a hypothesized moderation effect, -174G allele carriers at IL6 had fewer depressive symptoms following interpersonal stress, relative to C/C homozygotes with equal interpersonal stress exposure. However, IL6 genotype did not moderate the effects of non-interpersonal stress exposure (i.e., financial, work and health-related difficulties) on depression. Also in line with hypotheses, the -511C allele in IL1β, previously associated with higher IL-1β expression, was associated with more severe depression following chronic interpersonal stress exposure, relative to T/T homozygotes. Again, the moderating effect was specific to interpersonal stressors and did not generalize to non-interpersonal stress. TNF was not a moderator of the effects of either interpersonal or non-interpersonal stress on later depression outcomes.

conclusionFindings were consistent with the hypothesis that pro-inflammatory genetic variation increases the risk of stress-induced depression. The present results provide evidence of a genetic mechanism contributing to individual differences in depressive symptomatology following interpersonal stress exposure.

Indexed as

Gene-Environment InteractionGenetic Predisposition to DiseasePolymorphism, Single NucleotideAdolescentAdultAllelesDepressionFemaleGenotypeHumansInterleukin-1betaInterleukin-6Interpersonal RelationsMalePromoter Regions, GeneticPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesInterleukin-1betaInterleukin-6Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaAdolescent depressionDepressionGene–environment interactionIL1βIL6Pro-inflammatory cytokinesTNF

Identifiers

PMID25596176
PMCPMC4515110
OpenAlexW2056963089

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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.