Trial reportPsychoneuroendocrinology2018
Marital distress, depression, and a leaky gut: Translocation of bacterial endotoxin as a pathway to inflammation.
Trial report in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
93 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Examining immune-inflammatory mechanisms of probiotic supplementation in depression: secondary findings from a randomized clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Afternoon distraction: a high-saturated-fat meal and endotoxemia impact postmeal attention in a randomized crossover trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2020Trial
- Sex differences in the associations between lifestyle, intestinal permeability and brain health in middle-aged adults.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Postbiotics as a Therapeutic Tool in Depression: Exploring into Molecular Pathways and Neuroprotective Effects.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- The role of yoga in shaping emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in the context of personal relationships.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Nanomedicine-Driven Therapeutic Strategies for Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Depression: Mechanisms and Pharmacological Progress.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Inflammatory models of depression in rodents and humans.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- The role of gut microbiome in the pathophysiology of PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders.Gut microbes reports · 2026Review
- Depressive Symptoms in Obese Individuals Accompanied by Greater Basal Inflammation but Lower Monocyte Inflammatory Responses to LPS: A Quest to Uncover Immunologic Links between Depression and Obesity.Neuroimmunomodulation · 2026Article
- Investigations on the Prospects of Using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum to Combat Depression through Gut Microbiota-Brain Axis.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Intestinal Permeability and Depression-A Narrative Review of Selected Blood-Based Biomarkers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Mechanism of Microbiota-Gut-Brain in Perimenopausal Depression: An Inflammatory Perspective.Expert reviews in molecular medicine · 2025Review
- The Pathogenesis and Medical Treatment of Depression: Opportunity and Challenge.Neurology international · 2025Review
- Leaky Gut Biomarkers as Predictors of Depression and Suicidal Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Navigating mental health in space: gut-brain axis and microbiome dynamics.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota and their influence in brain cancer milieu.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2025Review
- The interdependence of depressive symptoms and sleep in dyads affected by cancer.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Article
- Association between atherogenic index of plasma and chronic diarrhea: a cross-sectional study of the NHANES 2005-2010.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Dynamic human gut microbiome and immune shifts during an immersive psychosocial intervention program.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Observational
33 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
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMarital distress and depression work in tandem to escalate risks for inflammation-related disorders. Translocation of bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) from the gut microbiota to blood circulation stimulates systemic inflammatory responses.
methodsTo investigate increased gut permeability (a "leaky gut") as one potential mechanistic pathway from marital distress and depression to heightened inflammation, this secondary analysis of a double-blind, randomized crossover study examined serial assessments of two endotoxin biomarkers, LPS-binding protein (LBP) and soluble CD14 (sCD14), as well as C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) during two separate 9.5 h visits. The 43 (N = 86) healthy married couples, ages 24-61 (mean = 38.22), discussed a marital disagreement during both visits; behavioral coding of these interactions provided data on hostile marital behaviors, a hallmark of marital distress. The Structured Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV assessed participants' mood disorder history.
resultsParticipants with more hostile marital interactions had higher LBP than those who were less hostile. Additionally, the combination of more hostile marital interactions with a mood disorder history was associated with higher LBP/sCD14 ratios. Higher LBP and LBP/sCD14 were associated with greater CRP production; for example, only 21% of low LBP participants (lowest quartile) had average CRP across the day > 3, compared to 79% of those in the highest quartile. Higher sCD14 was associated with higher IL-6.
conclusionsThese bacterial LPS translocation data illustrate how a distressed marriage and a mood disorder history can promote a proinflammatory milieu through increased gut permeability, thus fueling inflammation-related disorders.
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.