ArticleMolecular psychiatry2021
Distinct non-inflammatory signature of microglia in post-mortem brain tissue of patients with major depressive disorder.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 65 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
- Glial Markers of Suicidal Behavior in the Human Brain-A Systematic Review of Postmortem Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of molecular imaging of translocator protein in major depression.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- From peripheral blood neutrophils and monocytes to microglia in the brain: Converging evidence for innate immune activation in schizophrenia and major depression.Dusunen adam : Bakirkoy Ruh ve Sinir Hastaliklari Hastanesi yayin organi · 2026Article
- Immunity in Rodent Models of Stress.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Metabolic Reprogramming of Microglia in Neuroinflammation and Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Interleukins in Major Depressive Disorder: Lessons From Autoimmune Diseases and Pathways to Clinical Translation.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Review
- Dysfunctional circular RNA network in major depressive disorder: dissecting the cell identity and potential clinical applications.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Neuroimmune, metabolic and oxidative stress pathways in major depressive disorder.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2025Review
- Single-nucleus chromatin accessibility profiling identifies cell types and functional variants contributing to major depression.Nature genetics · 2025Article
- The regulatory variant rs1950834 confers the risk of depressive disorder by reducing LRFN5 expression.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- The Role of Inflammation in Depression and Beyond: A Primer for Clinicians.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Microglial morphological/inflammatory phenotypes and endocannabinoid signaling in a preclinical model of periodontitis and depression.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Article
- Microglia: The Drunken Gardeners of Early Adversity.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Evidence for reduced anti-inflammatory microglial phagocytic response in late-life major depression.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Article
- Psilocybin for dementia prevention? The potential role of psilocybin to alter mechanisms associated with major depression and neurodegenerative diseases.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 2024Review
- Navigating the Complex Terrain of Dysregulated Microglial Function in Depressive Disorders: Insights, Challenges and Future Directions.Aging and disease · 2024Review
- Article
- Simulated synapse loss induces depression-like behaviors in deep reinforcement learning.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Findings from epidemiological studies, biomarker measurements and animal experiments suggest a role for aberrant immune processes in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, are likely to play a key role in these processes. Previous post-mortem studies reported conflicting findings regarding microglial activation and an in-depth profiling of those cells in MDD is lacking. The aim of this study was therefore to characterize the phenotype and function of microglia in MDD. We isolated microglia from post-mortem brain tissue of patients with MDD (n = 13-19) and control donors (n = 12-25). Using flow cytometry and quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR), we measured protein and mRNA levels of a panel of microglial markers across four different brain regions (medial frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, thalamus, and subventricular zone). In MDD cases, we found a significant upregulation of CX3CR1 and TMEM119 mRNA expression and a downregulation of CD163 mRNA expression and CD14 protein expression across the four brain regions. Expression levels of microglial activation markers, such as HLA-DRA, IL6, and IL1β, as well as the inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide and dexamethasone were unchanged. Our findings suggest that microglia enhance homeostatic functions in MDD but are not immune activated.
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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.