ArticleJournal of affective disorders reports2021
A chicken and egg scenario in psychoneuroimmunology: Bidirectional mechanisms linking cytokines and depression.
Article in Journal of affective disorders reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Reconciling the neurogenic hypothesis of depression with recent advances in adult hippocampal neurogenesis research in humans.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- If you give a mouse a poopsicle: a novel fecal microbiota transplant method for exploring the role of the gut microbiome in stress-related outcomes in mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- If you give a mouse a poopsicle: a novel fecal microbiota transplant method for exploring the role of the gut microbiome in stress-related outcomes in mice.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Inflammatory Cytokines as a Shared Pathophysiological Pathway in Depression and Chronic Insomnia: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Review
- Moderating effects of individual factors on the relationship between inflammation and psychophysiological states in healthy adults.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review on the Role of Microbiota and Microglia in Premotor Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.Neurotoxicity research · 2025Review
- Immunomodulatory Mechanisms Underlying Neurological Manifestations in Long COVID: Implications for Immune-Mediated Neurodegeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Understanding the Biological Relationship between Migraine and Depression.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Breaking free from the inflammatory trap of depression: Regulating the interplay between immune activation and plasticity to foster mental health.Neuroscience applied · 2024Review
- Opioid Mechanisms and the Treatment of Depression.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2024Review
- Splitting the reward: Differences in inflammatory marker associations with neural connectivity between reward anticipation and reward outcome in adolescents at high risk for depression.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- Flavonols in Action: Targeting Oxidative Stress and Neuroinflammation in Major Depressive Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Does the moderator matter? Identification of multiple moderators of the association between peripheral inflammatory markers and depression severity in a large racially diverse community cohort.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Cytokines are an important part of the immune system. Certain cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), have well-described associations with depression. Various mechanisms exist that may explain bidirectional effects of cytokines on depression and vice versa. No recent reviews to our knowledge have comprehensively characterized both these mechanisms and the interaction of these mechanisms using evidence from the molecular level to the clinical level. The goal of this review is to both evaluate the present knowledge base and identify knowledge gaps to help guide future research. Methods: We conducted an extensive bibliographic search across multiple databases, using both general (e.g. "cytokine") and topic-specific (e.g. "kynurenine") keywords. Results: We describe the most recent evidence outlining these mechanisms, including the role of the hypothalamic pituitary axis, the kynurenine pathway, and neural circuitry. For relevant topics, we outline the pathways by which cytokine activation may lead to depressive symptoms, and how depressive symptomology may lead to elevations in cytokines. We also identify key areas for future research, including the need for longitudinal clinical studies to examine causality in pertinent mechanisms and modulating factors in the cytokine-depression interaction. Limitations: Given the numerous potential mechanisms associating cytokines and depressions, this review paper solely focuses on the most commonly described mechanisms at a basic level. Conclusions: Bidirectional evidence exists for several mechanisms in the relationship between cytokines and depression. However, more work is required to further elucidate the role of these mechanisms in specific clinical populations.
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.