SynthesisGlia2021
A loss of mature microglial markers without immune activation in schizophrenia.
Synthesis in Glia, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 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 Cell Abnormalities in Major Psychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review of Postmortem Brain Studies.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Does a monoclonal antibody targeting immune cells affect glutamatergic level in schizophrenia? A multimodal PET/MRS brain imaging study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Simvastatin Augmentation for Patients With Early-Phase Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2021Trial
- Neuroinflammation: an unfortunate term to describe schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- 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
- Immunological predictors in first-episode psychosis: findings from one-year prospective follow-up study.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2026Article
- Adolescent anodal tDCS ameliorates behavioral deficits and microglial abnormalities in a maternal immune activation mouse model of schizophrenia.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Mapping spatially organized molecular and genetic signatures of schizophrenia across multiple scales in human prefrontal cortex.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Microglia as critical mediators linking perinatal immune stress to mental health trajectories.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Acute and Long-Term Consequences of Neonatal NMDA Blockade in the Cx3cr1 Knock-Out Mouse.Inflammation · 2025Article
- Involvement of virus infections and antiviral agents in schizophrenia.Psychological medicine · 2025Review
- Maternal immune activation followed by peripubertal stress combinedly produce reactive microglia and confine cerebellar cognition.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Glial cell deficits are a key feature of schizophrenia: implications for neuronal circuit maintenance and histological differentiation from classical neurodegeneration.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Influence of antipsychotic drugs on microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in schizophrenia: perspectives in an astrocyte-microglia co-culture model.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Glioinflammation: disease-associated microglia and astrocytes in psychiatric disorders, neurodegeneration, and senescence.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Review
- The Role of Neuroglia in the Development and Progression of Schizophrenia.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Genetic contribution to microglial activation in schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Microglia, the immune cells of the brain, are important for neurodevelopment and have been hypothesized to play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia (SCZ). Although previous postmortem studies pointed toward presence of microglial activation, this view has been challenged by more recent hypothesis-driven and hypothesis-free analyses. The aim of the present study is to further understand the observed microglial changes in SCZ. We first performed a detailed meta-analysis on studies that analyzed microglial cell density, microglial morphology, and expression of microglial-specific markers. We then further explored findings from the temporal cortex by performing immunostainings and qPCRs on an additional dataset. A random effect meta-analysis showed that the density of microglial cells was unaltered in SCZ (ES: 0.144 95% CI: 0.102 to 0.390, p = .250), and clear changes in microglial morphology were also absent. The expression of several microglial specific genes, such as CX3CR1, CSF1R, IRF8, OLR1, and TMEM119 was decreased in SCZ (ES: -0.417 95% CI: -0.417 to -0.546, p < .0001), consistent with genome-wide transcriptome meta-analysis results. These results indicate a change in microglial phenotype rather than density, which was validated with the use of TMEM119/Iba1 immunostainings on temporal cortex of a separate cohort. Changes in microglial gene expression were overlapping between SCZ and other psychiatric disorders, but largely opposite from changes reported in Alzheimer's disease. This distinct microglial phenotype provides a crucial molecular hallmark for future research into the role of microglia in SCZ and other psychiatric disorders.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.