ArticleCurrent opinion in endocrine and metabolic research2022
Cause or consequence? Understanding the role of cortisol in the increased inflammation observed in depression.
Article in Current opinion in endocrine and metabolic research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of cortisol levels in Plasmodium infections.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- The interaction between the immune system and the autonomic nervous system in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder: a scoping review.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Review
- CD4The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Self-compassion as a well-being strategy against burnout among dentists: a controlled intervention study.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Endotoxin-induced inflammation promotes, via the adrenomedullary system, a hyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory reflex.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- The association between levels of GPS-tracked activity space violent crime and the relationship between cortisol and a biomarker of inflammation amongst Black and White adolescents.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- The cortisol axis and psychiatric disorders: an updated review.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Coordination of inflammatory and adrenocortical stress response during pregnancy and variation by mental health.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Understanding How Mental Health Influences IBD Outcomes: A Review of Potential Culprit Biological Mechanisms.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Chronic Stress Segregates Mice into Distinct Behavioral Phenotypes Based on Glucocorticoid Sensitivity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Do immune system and microbiome-gut-brain axis interactions associate with major depressive disorder?Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Re-Examination of Inflammation in Major Depressive Disorder: Bridging Systemic and Neuroinflammatory Insights.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Cannabichromene, a key non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid in treatment of major depressive disorder: in silico and in vivo explorations.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Stress Pathways in Chronic Kidney Disease: Linking Cortisol, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Prevalence and predictors of stress, anxiety, and depression among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic at a mental referral hospital in Kampala, Uganda.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The moderating role of lifetime social engagement on the relationship between C-reactive protein and negative symptoms among young adults at clinical high risk for psychosis.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Clinical Presentation and Pathological Effects of a Hydrozoan Bloom on Farmed Atlantic Salmon.Journal of fish diseases · 2025Article
- Dietary acid load and its association with psychological disorders, sleep quality, and mood among Iranian older adults: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Glymphatic dysfunction associated with cortisol dysregulation in major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Stress and salivary cortisol levels among temporomandibular disorders: a case-control study.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Glucocorticoids such as cortisol are a class of steroid hormones that play an important role in co-ordinating the body's response to stress. Elevated cortisol levels and increased inflammation have frequently been reported in patients with depression. The currently accepted "glucocorticoid resistance" model posits this increased inflammation as a consequence of reduced sensitivity to cortisol's putative anti-inflammatory action. However, opposing evidence has accumulated that supports a more recent model, which instead proposes that cortisol possesses immune potentiating properties and may thus directly cause the increased inflammation seen in depression. Despite all of this, a clear explanation of the neuroendocrine mechanism that contributes to the development of depression is still lacking and thus requires further investigation in improved future studies.
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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.