ArticleBiological psychiatry2018
Elevated Translocator Protein in Anterior Cingulate in Major Depression and a Role for Inflammation in Suicidal Thinking: A Positron Emission Tomography Study.
Article in Biological psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 171 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.
Naturalistic Monitoring of Microglial Activation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
A Longitudinal Study of Inflammatory Pathways in Depression
Who cites it
171 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 339 citations in OpenAlex.
- Glial Markers of Suicidal Behavior in the Human Brain-A Systematic Review of Postmortem Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- The potential impact of exercise on affect and neuroinflammation in older adults living with fibromyalgia: a scoping review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of molecular imaging of translocator protein in major depression.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Tetracycline use in treating osteoarthritis: a systematic review.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2021Pooled it
- Minocycline for Depressive Symptoms: a Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trials.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2020Pooled it
- A Specific Inflammatory Profile Underlying Suicide Risk? Systematic Review of the Main Literature Findings.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- The assessment of stress, depression, and inflammation as a collective risk factor for periodontal diseases: a systematic review.Clinical oral investigations · 2020Pooled it
- Joint and distinct neural structure and function deficits in major depressive disorder with suicidality: a multimodal meta-analysis of MRI studies.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPNPooled it
- Low-dose naltrexone as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder: findings from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled hybrid parallel-arm study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Trial
- Effects of estrogen and progesterone on neuroactive steroids and cytokines in patients with suicidality.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Trial
- A double-blind placebo-controlled trial of minocycline on translocator protein distribution volume in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2021Trial
- Correlation Between Lactic Acid Bacteria Beverage Intake and Stress Resilience.The Kobe journal of medical sciences · 2021Trial
- The benefit of minocycline on negative symptoms of schizophrenia in patients with recent-onset psychosis (BeneMin): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2018Trial
- Preliminary evidence of neuroimmune system disruption in opioid use disorder: Findings from a pilot PET TSPO imaging study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Multimodal approach to identify neuropsychophysiological subgroups in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and their relevance for rehabilitation: protocol for a mechanistic cross-sectional and longitudinal study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Comprehensive analysis of cytokines in depression: independent data from patient plasma and post-mortem ventromedial prefrontal cortex.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Somatostatin-expressing neurons in the zona incerta regulate chronic stress response and modulate depression-like behaviors.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Research Progress on the Biological Function and Homeostatic Disruption of Microglia in the Pathogenesis of Major Depressive Disorder.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Trajectories of late-life depression: insights from molecular imaging.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
111 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMajor depressive disorder is associated with raised peripheral inflammatory markers. Mounting evidence also suggests that inflammation is involved in suicidal behavior. However, the involvement of inflammation in the brains of individuals with depression, and its association with suicidal ideation, needs further clarification. Translocator protein (TSPO), which is upregulated in activated glia (predominantly microglia), can be measured as an indication of neuroinflammation in vivo using positron emission tomography and TSPO-specific radioligands.
methodsWe used [
resultsMultivariate analysis of variance indicated significantly higher TSPO in patients compared with control subjects (p = .005). The elevation was of large effect size and significant in the ACC (p = .022, Cohen's d = 0.95), with smaller nonsignificant elevations in the prefrontal cortex (p = .342, Cohen's d = 0.38) and insula (p = .466, Cohen's d = 0.29). TSPO was not elevated in patients without suicidal thinking but was significantly increased in those with suicidal thoughts compared with those without, most robustly in the ACC (p = .008) and insula (p = .023).
conclusionsWe confirm evidence for increased TSPO availability, suggestive of predominantly microglial activation, in the ACC during a moderate to severe major depressive episode. Our findings provide further incentive for evaluating anti-inflammatory therapies in major depressive disorder.
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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.