ReviewJournal of neuroinflammation2021
On inflammatory hypothesis of depression: what is the role of IL-6 in the middle of the chaos?
Review in Journal of neuroinflammation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 142 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
142 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 208 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential Inflammatory Biomarkers for Major Depressive Disorder Related to Suicidal Behaviors: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Fast and slow gene expression changes in blood following acute social stress.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Neuro-immune interactions in tumors, immune-related disorders, and infections.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Article
- Gut single-microbe landscape in patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neuroimmunology of Oral Cancer: Tumor Progression, Systemic Inflammation, and Neural Circuit Dysfunction from the Cerebellum to the Frontal Cortex.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- From case-control averages to validated subgroups: Interpreting inflammatory and neuroaxonal-injury biomarkers in schizophrenia and major depression.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Review
- Cytokine-mediated immune-to-brain signaling in neural circuit disorders.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Association between changes in sleep quality and serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in patients with major depressive disorder following duloxetine treatment.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- EEG Neurofeedback for Major Depressive Disorder: A Scoping Review.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Review
- The Prevalence of Mental Health Conditions in Adults and Children With Childhood-Onset Inflammatory Ocular Disease: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Ventromedial hypothalamus IL-6 signaling mediates the excessive aggressive behavior induced by late-gestational sleep deprivation in male mice.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2026Article
- Major depressive disorder shares systemic immune signatures and potential therapeutic targets with inflammatory skin diseases.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- The association between spatiotemporal coupling of default mode network and behaviors is specifically modulated by peripheral inflammation in major depressive disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- P2X7 receptor-mediated cGAS-STING pathway activation underlies chronic stress-induced depressive-like behaviors.Purinergic signalling · 2026Article
- Cytokines and cognitive function in first-episode drug-naïve MDD: an inflammation panel perspective.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic Status Is Associated With Reward Processing, Interleukin 1β, Striatal Connectivity, and Antidepressant Outcomes in Individuals With Major Depressive Disorder: A CAN-BIND-1 Report.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- IL-33-induced neuroimmune regulation in depression: A narrative review from molecular mechanisms to therapeutic potential.Medicine · 2026Review
- Neuro-Immune Crosstalk: Molecular Mechanisms, Biological Functions, Diseases, and Therapeutic Targets.MedComm · 2026Review
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Polyphenols in Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells Stimulated with TNF-α.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
82 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 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are reported to have higher levels of multiple inflammatory cytokines including interleukin 6 (IL-6). Recent studies both pre-clinical and clinical have advocated for the functional role of IL-6 in development of MDD and suggested a great potential for targeting this cytokine to open new avenues in pharmacotherapy of depression. The purpose of the present narrative review was to provide an integrated account of how IL-6 may contribute to development of depression. All peer-reviewed journal articles published before July 2020 for each area discussed were searched by WOS, PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Google Scholar, for original research, review articles, and book chapters. Publications between 1980 and July 2020 were included. Alterations in IL-6 levels, both within the periphery and the brain, most probably contribute to depression symptomatology in numerous ways. As IL-6 acts on multiple differing target tissues throughout the body, dysregulation of this particular cytokine can precipitate a multitude of events relevant to depression and blocking its effects can prevent further escalation of inflammatory responses, and potentially pave the way for opening new avenues in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this debilitating disorder.
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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.