ReviewMolecular psychiatry2020
The kynurenine pathway: a finger in every pie.
Review in Molecular psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05986513 (Investigating Brain Abnormalities in People With Knee Osteoarthritis Using MRI), which is not on this map. Cited by 435 papers, 4 of them syntheses 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.
Investigating Brain Abnormalities in People With Knee Osteoarthritis Using MRI: a Nociplastic Pain Mechanism Based Assessment
Who cites it
435 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 712 citations in OpenAlex.
- Phytochemical Modulation of the Kynurenine Pathway (KYNP) and Its Emerging Mechanistic Insights into Cancer Progression: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Ketamine treatment alleviates suicide ideation in high-risk populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Mechanisms and Pathogenesis of Diabetic Cognitive Impairment: A Comprehensive Review.Aging and disease · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise-induced adaptations in the kynurenine pathway: implications for health and disease management.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Pooled it
- Vicarious defeat stress (VDS) is not a simple substitute for chronic social defeat stress (CSDS): a comparative study on behavioral and molecular mechanisms in both stress-induced anxiety- and depression-like behaviors.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2026Article
- The Tryptophan-Kynurenine Pathway as a Key Mediator of the Gut-Brain Axis in Depression and Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Optimization of a 3D Skin Equivalent Incorporating Melanocytes or Melanoma Cells for In Vitro Melanoma Research.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota-targeted interventions for depression in adolescents and young adults: Mechanisms, evidence strength and clinical strategies-A narrative review.General psychiatry · 2026Review
- Association Between Kynurenine Pathway and Cerebellar Microstructure in Bipolar Disorder With Childhood Trauma.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- Lipopolysaccharide-induced systemic inflammation alters courtship ultrasonic vocalizations in male mice.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Ferroptosis in depression: mechanisms, association, and therapeutic strategies.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Review
- The Kynurenine Pathway: Unraveling Its Role in Neurological Disorders via Mammalian Cellular Models.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- From dysbiosis to metabolic vulnerability: implications for precision psychiatry in depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Tryptophan metabolism: A hidden regulator of female reproductive health beyond fertility.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- Neuroinflammation and depression: immune-brain interface mechanisms, biomarker stratification, and therapeutic strategies.Translational psychiatry · 2026Review
- Changes in kynurenine pathway metabolites and brain structure in response to behavioral activation therapy.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- The potential role of kynurenine pathway and inflammation in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder with and without major depressive disorder comorbidity.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Article
- Mania and psychosis following chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy: A report of two cases and mechanistic discussion.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Branching architecture of tryptophan metabolism determines therapeutic vulnerability in acute myeloid leukemia.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Article
375 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
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The kynurenine pathway (KP) plays a critical role in generating cellular energy in the form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Because energy requirements are substantially increased during an immune response, the KP is a key regulator of the immune system. Perhaps more importantly in the context of psychiatry, many kynurenines are neuroactive, modulating neuroplasticity and/or exerting neurotoxic effects in part through their effects on NMDA receptor signaling and glutamatergic neurotransmission. As such, it is not surprising that the kynurenines have been implicated in psychiatric illness in the context of inflammation. However, because of their neuromodulatory properties, the kynurenines are not just additional members of a list of inflammatory mediators linked with psychiatric illness, but in preclinical studies have been shown to be necessary components of the behavioral analogs of depression and schizophrenia-like cognitive deficits. Further, as the title suggests, the KP is regulated by, and in turn regulates multiple other physiological systems that are commonly disrupted in psychiatric disorders, including endocrine, metabolic, and hormonal systems. This review provides a broad overview of the mechanistic pathways through which the kynurenines interact with these systems, thus impacting emotion, cognition, pain, metabolic function, and aging, and in so doing potentially increasing the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. Novel therapeutic approaches targeting the KP are discussed. Moreover, electroconvulsive therapy, ketamine, physical exercise, and certain non-steroidal anti-inflammatories have been shown to alter kynurenine metabolism, raising the possibility that kynurenine metabolites may have utility as treatment response or therapeutic monitoring biomarkers.
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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.