SynthesisPsychological medicine2019
Neuroinflammation in schizophrenia: meta-analysis of
Synthesis in Psychological medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 116 papers, 7 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
116 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 206 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multimodal microglial and kynurenine pathway alterations across the affective-psychosis spectrum: a systematic review of patterns, heterogeneity, and dimensional implications.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- White-matter free-water diffusion MRI in schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of molecular imaging of translocator protein in major depression.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Immune System Abnormalities in Schizophrenia: An Integrative View and Translational Perspectives.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of the Glial Marker TSPO in Psychosis Revisited: Reconciling Inconclusive Findings of Patient-Control Differences.Biological psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- A Meta-analysis of Immune Parameters, Variability, and Assessment of Modal Distribution in Psychosis and Test of the Immune Subgroup Hypothesis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2019Pooled it
- Does a monoclonal antibody targeting immune cells affect glutamatergic level in schizophrenia? A multimodal PET/MRS brain imaging study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Antiviral treatment in schizophrenia: a randomized pilot PET study on the effects of valaciclovir on neuroinflammation.Psychological medicine · 2023Trial
- Simvastatin Augmentation for Patients With Early-Phase Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2021Trial
- Concomitant pathologies and their impact on schizophrenia: a narrative overview of current evidence.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Review
- Genetically Proxied Associations Among 473 Gut Microbial Taxa, 1,400 Circulating Metabolites, and Mental and Behavioral Disorders: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2026Article
- Functional genomic profiling of schizophrenia-associated genes reveals key microglial regulators.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Schizophrenia: from mechanism to therapy.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Neuroinflammation: an unfortunate term to describe schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- In vivo brain macromolecules in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Associations between cerebellum and major psychiatric disorders: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Putative Neuroimmune Mechanisms and Candidate Biomarkers of rTMS Efficacy in Improving Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Evidence Boundaries and Translational Pathways.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Review
- Functional Genomic Profiling of Schizophrenia-Associated Genes Reveals Key Microglial Regulators.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundConverging lines of evidence implicate an important role for the immune system in schizophrenia. Microglia are the resident immune cells of the central nervous system and have many functions including neuroinflammation, axonal guidance and neurotrophic support. We aimed to provide a quantitative review of in vivo PET imaging studies of microglia activation in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls.
methodsDemographic, clinical and imaging measures were extracted from each study and meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model (Hedge's g). The difference in 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) binding between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, as quantified by either binding potential (BP) or volume of distribution (VT), was used as the main outcome. Sub-analysis and sensitivity analysis were carried out to investigate the effects of genotype, ligand and illness stage.
resultsIn total, 12 studies comprising 190 patients with schizophrenia and 200 healthy controls met inclusion criteria. There was a significant elevation in tracer binding in schizophrenia patients relative to controls when BP was used as an outcome measure, (Hedge's g = 0.31; p = 0.03) but no significant differences when VT was used (Hedge's g = -0.22; p = 0.29).
conclusionsIn conclusion, there is evidence for moderate elevations in TSPO tracer binding in grey matter relative to other brain tissue in schizophrenia when using BP as an outcome measure, but no difference when VT is the outcome measure. We discuss the relevance of these findings as well as the methodological issues that may underlie the contrasting difference between these outcomes.
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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.