Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30214039›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2020

Increased macrophages and changed brain endothelial cell gene expression in the frontal cortex of people with schizophrenia displaying inflammation.

Helen Q Cai, Vibeke S Catts, Maree J Webster, Cherrie Galletly, Dennis Liu, Maryanne O'Donnell, Thomas W Weickert, Cynthia Shannon Weickert

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 124 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
124citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
7.1field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

124 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 234 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. BrainFrontiers in immunology · 2021
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. The role of tight junction proteins in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Molecular Signatures of Id2- and Ascl4-Induced Wiring of Adult Hippocampal Neurons.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

64 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Helen Q CaiSchizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Vibeke S CattsSchizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Maree J WebsterStanley Medical Research Institute, Kensington, MD, USA.
Cherrie GalletlyDiscipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Dennis LiuDiscipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Maryanne O'DonnellSchool of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Thomas W WeickertSchizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Cynthia Shannon WeickertSchizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, NSW, Australia. cyndi@neura.edu.au.
UNSW Sydney · AUNeuroscience Research Australia · AUSA Health · AUStanley Medical Research Institute · USUniversity of Adelaide · AU

Funding

Brain Tissue Resource Centre for Alcohol ResearchR28AA012725 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY · PI Greg Trevor Sutherland · 2012 to 2026
$7.0M
NIAAA NIH HHS R28 AA012725
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines exist in both blood and brain of people with schizophrenia but how this affects molecular indices of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is unclear. Eight mRNAs relating to BBB function, a microglia and three immune cell markers were measured by qPCR in the prefrontal cortex from 37 people with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and 37 matched controls. This cohort was previously grouped into "high inflammation" and "low inflammation" subgroups based on cortical inflammatory-related transcripts. Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM1) was measured in the plasma of 78 patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and 73 healthy controls. We found that sICAM1 was significantly elevated in schizophrenia. An efflux transporter, ABCG2, was lower, while mRNAs encoding VE-cadherin and ICAM1 were higher in schizophrenia brain. The "high inflammation" schizophrenia subgroup had lower ABCG2 and higher ICAM1, VE-cadherin, occludin and interferon-induced transmembrane protein mRNAs compared to both "low inflammation" schizophrenia and "low inflammation" control subgroups. ICAM1 immunohistochemistry showed enrichment in brain endothelium regardless of diagnosis and was localised to astrocytes in some brains. Microglia mRNA was not altered in schizophrenia nor did it correlate with ICAM1 expression. Immune cell mRNAs were elevated in "high inflammation" schizophrenia compared to both "low inflammation" schizophrenia and controls. CD163+ perivascular macrophages were identified by immunohistochemistry in brain parenchyma in over 40% of "high inflammation" schizophrenia brains. People with high levels of cytokine expression and schizophrenia display changes consistent with greater immune cell transmigration into brain via increased ICAM1, which could contribute to other neuropathological changes found in this subgroup of people.

Indexed as

AdultAstrocytesBiomarkersBlood-Brain BarrierBrainEncephalitisEndothelial CellsEndotheliumFemaleFrontal LobeGene ExpressionHumansInflammationIntercellular Adhesion Molecule-1MacrophagesMaleBiomarkersICAM1 protein, humanIntercellular Adhesion Molecule-1

Identifiers

PMID30214039
PMCPMC7156343
OpenAlexW2891409559

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.