Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31078690›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2019

Inflammation and decreased functional connectivity in a widely-distributed network in depression: Centralized effects in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex.

Lijun Yin, Xiaodan Xu, Gang Chen, Neeti D Mehta, Ebrahim Haroon, Andrew H Miller, Yuejia Luo, Zhihao Li, Jennifer C Felger

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
65citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.4field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

65 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. Synaptic effects of interleukin-6 on human iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
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5 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

9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Lijun YinGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, and Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, China.
Xiaodan XuSchool of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China.
Gang ChenScientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Neeti D MehtaDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Neuroscience Graduate Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Ebrahim HaroonDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Andrew H MillerDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Yuejia LuoSchool of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China.
Zhihao LiSchool of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: zhihao_li@szu.edu.cn.
Jennifer C FelgerDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: jfelger@emory.edu.
Emory University · USShenzhen University · CNNational Institute of Mental Health · USSun Yat-sen University · CN

Funding

Winship Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support GrantP30CA138292 · NCI · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI Suresh S Ramalingam · 2009 to 2026
$47.5M
Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) RenewalUL1TR000454 · NCATS · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI STEPHENS, DAVID S · 2012 to 2016
$25.8M
Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) RenewalKL2TR000455 · NCATS · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI STEPHENS, DAVID S · 2012 to 2016
$2.9M
Inflammation-Induced CNS Glutamate as a Function of Depression in Middle AgeR01MH107033 · NIMH · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI HAROON, EBRAHIM · 2016 to 2021
$2.2M
Phenotyping Major Depression with Increased InflammationR01MH087604 · NIMH · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI MILLER, ANDREW H · 2010 to 2014
$2.2M
Inflammation Effects on Corticostriatal Connectivity and Reward: Role of DopamineR01MH109637 · NIMH · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI FELGER, JENNIFER C · 2016 to 2019
$2.1M
Emory Psychiatry Clinical Scientist Training Program (CSTP)R25MH101079 · NIMH · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI GOLDSMITH, DAVID RYAN, MILLER, ANDREW H · 2014 to 2025
$1.9M
MR SPECTROSCOPY TO REVEAL CNS MECHANISMS OF CYTOKINE-INDUCED BEHAVIORAL CHANGEK23MH091254 · NIMH · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI HAROON, EBRAHIM · 2010 to 2014
$883k
Neurobiology of cytokine effects on CNS glutamate in IFN-alpha-induced depressionR21MH106904 · NIMH · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI FELGER, JENNIFER C · 2015 to 2016
$421k
NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR000455NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000454NCI NIH HHS P30 CA138292NIMH NIH HHS K23 MH091254NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH087604NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH107033NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH109637NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH106904NIMH NIH HHS R25 MH101079
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Major depressive disorder is a heterogeneous disease involving widespread disruptions in functional brain networks, the neurobiological mechanisms of which are poorly understood. Amassing evidence supports innate immune activation as one pathophysiologic mechanism contributing to depression in a subgroup of patients with elevated inflammatory markers. Although inflammation is known to alter monoamine and glutamate neurotransmitters, little work has been done to understand its role in network dysfunction in patients with depression. Here we conducted a large-scale network-based analyses of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rfMRI) data acquired from depressed patients with varying levels of inflammation to develop a comprehensive characterization of network alterations as an effect of inflammation. Complementary approaches of global brain connectivity and parcellation-based network analysis applied to the whole brain revealed that increased plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) was associated with reduced functional connectivity in a widely-distributed network including ventral striatum, parahippocampal gyrus/amygdala, orbitofrontal and insular cortices, and posterior cingulate cortex. These broad alterations were centralized in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), representing a hub for the effects of inflammation on network function in the whole brain. When feeding the identified multivariate network features into a machine learning algorithm of support vector regression, we achieved high prediction accuracies for depressive symptoms that have been associated with inflammation in previous studies including anhedonia and motor slowing. These findings extend and broaden previous observations from hypothesis-driven studies, providing further support for inflammation as a distinct contributing factor to network dysfunction and symptom severity in depression.

Indexed as

AdultAmygdalaAnhedoniaBrainBrain MappingCerebral CortexC-Reactive ProteinDepressionFemaleGyrus CinguliHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMajor Depressive DisorderMaleMiddle AgedNeural PathwaysC-Reactive ProteinC-reactive proteinDepressionFunctional connectivityInflammationResting-state functional magnetic resonance imagingVentral medial prefrontal cortex

Identifiers

PMID31078690
PMCPMC6660411
OpenAlexW2944182731

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.