ArticleBrain : a journal of neurology2021
Depression, dementia and immune dysregulation.
Article in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 167 citations in OpenAlex.
- Depression as a prognostic factor for conversion from mild cognitive impairment to all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of pteridines in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.BMC geriatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Personality Associations With Amyloid and Tau: Results From the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and Meta-analysis.Biological psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- The causal relationship between immune cells, white matter microstructure and dementia: a Mendelian randomization study and co-localization analysis.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- The Relationship Between Polygenic Risk of Depression and Regional Brain Atrophy in Older Adults.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2026Article
- Plasma GFAP modifies the association of depressive symptoms with cognitive function: A population-based study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Cognitive trajectories and mortality risk in older adults: a 9-year follow-up study.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Neuroimmune programming of childhood trauma: comorbid mechanisms and developmental origins of depression and autoimmune diseases.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- "We have a behaviour support plan, let's have a mental health support plan": Perspectives of staff, residents and family carers on understanding, responding to and promoting the mental health of residents within long-term care.Dementia (London, England) · 2026Article
- Single-cell transcriptome-wide Mendelian randomization during CD4Communications biology · 2026Article
- Review
- Article
- Intermittent fasting and immune aging: implications for immunosenescence, inflammaging, neuroinflammation, and frailty.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Flexitarian dietary patterns and neuropsychiatric multimorbidity among the oldest-old in China.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Targeting the cGAS-STING Pathway: Modulating Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Autophagy for Novel Depression Therapies.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- Complex Neurobiological Mechanisms and Risk Factors Underlying Late-Life Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Oxidative balance score and depression in COPD patients: A cross-sectional study from NHANES 2007 to 2018.Medicine · 2025Article
- Migration of CD8 + TSCM cells into intestine via PPBP-CXCR2 axis increases host stress susceptibility by inhibiting gut microbiome-derived homovanillic acid.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Cumulative and variable depression symptom exposure and incident dementia: Panel data analysis of four longitudinal cohort studies.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- The relationship between social isolation, depressive symptoms and cognitive function in older adults: a longitudinal mediation study in China.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
29 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
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Major depression is a prevalent illness that increases the risk of several neurological conditions. These include stroke, cardiovascular disease, and dementia including Alzheimer's disease. In this review we ask whether certain types of depression and associated loneliness may be a harbinger of cognitive decline and possibly even dementia. We propose that chronic stress and inflammation combine to compromise vascular and brain function. The resulting increases in proinflammatory cytokines and microglial activation drive brain pathology leading to depression and mild cognitive impairment, which may progress to dementia. We present evidence that by treating the inflammatory changes, depression can be reversed in many cases. Importantly, there is evidence that anti-inflammatory and antidepressant treatments may reduce or prevent dementia in people with depression. Thus, we propose a model in which chronic stress and inflammation combine to increase brain permeability and cytokine production. This leads to microglial activation, white matter damage, neuronal and glial cell loss. This is first manifest as depression and mild cognitive impairment, but can eventually evolve into dementia. Further research may identify clinical subgroups with inflammatory depression at risk for dementia. It would then be possible to address in clinical trials whether effective treatment of the depression can delay the onset of dementia.
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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.