SynthesisPsychological medicine2019
An update on the efficacy of anti-inflammatory agents for patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.
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 109 papers, 11 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
109 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 207 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
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials of Anti-Inflammatory Agents in Early-Stage Psychotic Disorders.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of anti-inflammatory drug-assisted treatment of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Memantine for the Treatment of Primary Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Clinical drug investigation · 2025Pooled it
- Relationships Between Immune-Inflammatory Features and Social Cognitive Impairments in Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Predictors of successful anti-inflammatory drug trials in patients with schizophrenia: A meta-regression and critical commentary.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Pooled it
- Adjunctive agents to antipsychotics in schizophrenia: a systematic umbrella review and recommendations for amino acids, hormonal therapies and anti-inflammatory drugs.BMJ mental health · 2023Pooled it
- Linking Inflammation, Aberrant Glutamate-Dopamine Interaction, and Post-synaptic Changes: Translational Relevance for Schizophrenia and Antipsychotic Treatment: a Systematic Review.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Pooled it
- The relationship between immune and cognitive dysfunction in mood and psychotic disorder: a systematic review and a meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Changes in peripheral blood compounds following psychopharmacological treatment in drug-naïve first-episode patients with either schizophrenia or major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Ashwagandha (Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- A double-blind, randomized controlled study of the effects of celecoxib on clinical symptoms and cognitive impairment in patients with drug-naïve first episode schizophrenia: pharmacogenetic impact of cyclooxygenase-2 functional polymorphisms.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- The Role of Total White Blood Cell Count in Antipsychotic Treatment for Patients with Schizophrenia.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Trial
- Associations between expression of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase enzyme and inflammatory cytokines in patients with first-episode drug-naive Schizophrenia.Translational psychiatry · 2021Trial
- Effects of fingolimod, a sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist, on white matter microstructure, cognition and symptoms in schizophrenia.Brain imaging and behavior · 2021Trial
- Adjunctive Aspirin vs Placebo in Patients With Schizophrenia: Results of Two Randomized Controlled Trials.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2021Trial
- Simvastatin Augmentation for Patients With Early-Phase Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2021Trial
- Schizophrenia: from mechanism to therapy.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Th1/Th17-linked transcription factors TBX21 and RORC were associated with clinical response to rituximab in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Dissecting the polygenic architecture of psychopathology via singular value decomposition of eight psychiatric genome-wide association studies and evaluation of component-based polygenic scores.General psychiatry · 2026Article
49 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
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccumulating evidence shows that a propensity towards a pro-inflammatory status in the brain plays an important role in schizophrenia. Anti-inflammatory drugs might compensate this propensity. This study provides an update regarding the efficacy of agents with some anti-inflammatory actions for schizophrenia symptoms tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
methodsPubMed, Embase, the National Institutes of Health website (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were systematically searched for RCTs that investigated clinical outcomes.
resultsOur search yielded 56 studies that provided information on the efficacy of the following components on symptom severity: aspirin, bexarotene, celecoxib, davunetide, dextromethorphan, estrogens, fatty acids, melatonin, minocycline, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), pioglitazone, piracetam, pregnenolone, statins, varenicline, and withania somnifera extract. The results of aspirin [mean weighted effect size (ES): 0.30; n = 270; 95% CI (CI) 0.06-0.54], estrogens (ES: 0.78; n = 723; CI 0.36-1.19), minocycline (ES: 0.40; n = 946; CI 0.11-0.68), and NAC (ES: 1.00; n = 442; CI 0.60-1.41) were significant in meta-analysis of at least two studies. Subgroup analysis yielded larger positive effects for first-episode psychosis (FEP) or early-phase schizophrenia studies. Bexarotene, celecoxib, davunetide, dextromethorphan, fatty acids, pregnenolone, statins, and varenicline showed no significant effect.
conclusionsSome, but not all agents with anti-inflammatory properties showed efficacy. Effective agents were aspirin, estrogens, minocycline, and NAC. We observed greater beneficial results on symptom severity in FEP or early-phase schizophrenia.
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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.