ArticleTranslational psychiatry2021
Kynurenines increase MRS metabolites in basal ganglia and decrease resting-state connectivity in frontostriatal reward circuitry in depression.
Article in Translational psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity in anhedonia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain imaging and behavior · 2026Pooled it
- "Do probiotics mitigate GI-induced inflammation and perceived fatigue in athletes? A systematic review".Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Dynamic Triangulation of Resting-State Networks and CSF Metabolites Reveals Bidirectional Causal Pathways in Multiple Sclerosis: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2026Article
- Understanding Depression in Women Across the Lifespan: Hormonal Insights From Brain Imaging.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- Contextual Regulation of the Kynurenine Pathway and Its Relevance for Personalized Psychiatry.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- The kynurenine pathway in depression and schizophrenia: convergent signals, divergent states, and clinical signatures.EXCLI journal · 2026Review
- The new normal: neural network adaptations in late-life depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Advancing an Inflammatory Subtype of Major Depression.The American journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- Kynurenine Metabolism is Associated with Antidepressant Response to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The central role of microglia in major depressive disorder and its potential as a therapeutic target.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2025Review
- Rewiring the brain: Inflammation's impact on glutamate and neural networks in depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Prenatal and childhood air pollution exposure, cellular immune biomarkers, and brain connectivity in early adolescents.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- The improvement effect of exercise on rats with chronic stress-induced depression-like behavior: a discussion based on the kynurenine pathway.The Journal of international medical research · 2024Article
- Frontostriatal circuitry and the tryptophan kynurenine pathway in major psychiatric disorders.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Immune mechanisms of depression in rheumatoid arthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
- Major Depressive Disorder and Gut Microbiota: Role of Physical Exercise.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Kynurenine Pathway Regulation at Its Critical Junctions with Fluctuation of Tryptophan.Metabolites · 2023Article
- New and emerging approaches to treat psychiatric disorders.Nature medicine · 2023Review
- Overlapping brain correlates of superior cognition among children at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease and/or major depressive disorder.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- C-Reactive protein and the kynurenic acid to quinolinic acid ratio are independently associated with white matter integrity in major depressive disorder.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Inflammation is associated with the development of anhedonia in major depression (MD), but the pathway by which inflammatory molecules gain access to the brain and lead to anhedonia is not clear. Molecules of the kynurenine pathway (KP), which is activated by inflammation, readily influx into the brain and generate end products that alter brain chemistry, disrupt circuit functioning, and result in the expression of inflammatory behaviors such as anhedonia. We examined the impact of plasma and CSF KP metabolites on brain chemistry and neural function using multimodal neuroimaging in 49 depressed subjects. We measured markers of glial dysfunction and distress including glutamate (Glu) and myo-inositol in the left basal ganglia using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS); metrics of local activity coherence (regional homogeneity, ReHo) and functional connectivity from resting-state functional MRI measures; and anhedonia from the Inventory for Depressive Symptoms-Self Report Version (IDS-SR). Plasma kynurenine/tryptophan (KYN/TRP) ratio and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 3-hydroxykynurenine (3HK) were associated with increases in left basal ganglia myo-inositol. Plasma kynurenic acid (KYNA) and KYNA/QA were associated with decreases and quinolinic acid (QA) with increases in left basal ganglia Glu. Plasma and CSF KP were associated with decreases in ReHo in the basal ganglia and dorsomedial prefrontal regions (DMPFC) and impaired functional connectivity between these two regions. DMPFC-basal ganglia mediated the effect of plasma and CSF KP on anhedonia. These findings highlight the pathological impact of KP system dysregulation in mediating inflammatory behaviors such as anhedonia.
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