ReviewThe American journal of psychiatry2015
Inflammation: depression fans the flames and feasts on the heat.
Review in The American journal of psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 422 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
422 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 830 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: Evidence from a Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Immunological landscape of nanotechnology-based depression research: a bibliometric analysis of neuroinflammation and immune modulation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Blunted Niacin Skin Flushing Response in Mood Disorders: A Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies.Depression and anxiety · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of different exercise interventions on depression and anxiety in cancer survivors: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Gut microbiota composition in depressive disorder: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression.Translational psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- COVID-19 risk, course and outcome in people with mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analyses.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Global Prevalence and Factors Associated with Frailty among Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2023Pooled it
- Pro-inflammatory biomarkers associated with depression severity among adults with HIV in New York City.Journal of psychiatric research · 2025Trial
- Nutraceutical Blends Promote Weight Loss, Inflammation Reduction, and Better Sleep: The Role of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in Overweight Adults-A Double-Blind Trial.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2025Trial
- Does psychological treatment of major depression reduce cardiac risk biomarkers? An exploratory randomized controlled trial.Psychological medicine · 2023Trial
- Association of plasma cytokines and antidepressant response following mild-intensity whole-body hyperthermia in major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Unveiling the cognitive fog in lung cancer patients: non-invasive exploration of blood-brain barrier disruption and brain structural changes.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Association of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and inflammatory indices with cardiometabolic multimorbidity.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Neurobiology of Pet Loss Grief: A Review from a One Health Perspective.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Resilience beyond diagnosis: prospective neural correlates of better-than-expected outcomes in depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mobile Phone Call Duration and Cardiovascular Outcomes: Prospective and Genetic Evidence on a Potential Depression-Related Pathway.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Engineering Advanced Nanomedicine Against Depression: From Treatment Challenges to Delivery Strategies.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- PACSIN2-mediated synaptic injury contributes to behavioral disorders caused by chronic stress.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2026Article
- Dissociation Between Functional Performance and Structural Joint Damage Following Sertraline Treatment in Collagen-Induced Arthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
362 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Depression and inflammation fuel one another. Inflammation plays a key role in depression's pathogenesis for a subset of depressed individuals; depression also primes larger cytokine responses to stressors and pathogens that do not appear to habituate. Accordingly, treatment decisions may be informed by attention to questions of how (pathways) and for whom (predispositions) these links exist, which are the focus of this article. When combined with predisposing factors (moderators such as childhood adversity and obesity), stressors and pathogens can lead to exaggerated or prolonged inflammatory responses. The resulting sickness behaviors (e.g., pain, disturbed sleep), depressive symptoms, and negative health behaviors (e.g., poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle) may act as mediating pathways that lead to further, unrestrained inflammation and depression. Depression, childhood adversity, stressors, and diet can all influence the gut microbiome and promote intestinal permeability, another pathway to enhanced inflammatory responses. Larger, more frequent, or more prolonged inflammatory responses could have negative mental and physical health consequences. In clinical practice, inflammation provides a guide to potential targets for symptom management by signaling responsiveness to certain therapeutic strategies. For example, a theme across research with cytokine antagonists, omega-3 fatty acids, celecoxib, and exercise is that anti-inflammatory interventions have a substantially greater impact on mood in individuals with heightened inflammation. Thus, when inflammation and depression co-occur, treating them in tandem may enhance recovery and reduce the risk of recurrence. The bidirectional links between depression, inflammation, and disease suggest that effective depression treatments could have a far-reaching impact on mood, inflammation, and health.
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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.