SynthesisThe American journal of psychiatry2026
Effect of Anti-Inflammatory Treatment on Depressive Symptom Severity and Anhedonia in Depressed Individuals With Elevated Inflammation: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in The American journal of psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of Dopaminergic Therapy with Levodopa (L-DOPA) on Fear and Anxiety-Related Circuits and Symptoms in Patients with Depression and Higher Inflammation.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Trial
- Molecular Signaling Pathways in Depression and Neuroinflammation: Focus on New Pathophysiological Proteins and Therapeutic Compounds.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Celecoxib adjunct to antidepressants for major depressive disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Whole-blood transcriptomic response to whole-body hyperthermia in participants with major depressive disorder.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Disrupted synapses: prefrontal cortex-reward circuit dysfunction in stress-induced depression-like behaviors.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Integrated approaches to geriatric mental disorders: pathophysiology, interventions, and precision medicine horizons.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Imbalance of the Brain-Gut-Microbiota Axis in Major Depressive Disorder: From Pathogenesis to Clinical Translation.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Review
- Therapeutic potential of exerkines in neurodegenerative and mental disorders: a narrative review.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveStudies evaluating the effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on depressive symptom severity and anhedonia in depressed individuals report mixed results. In this preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors evaluated whether anti-inflammatory treatments, compared to placebo, reduce anhedonia and depressive symptom severity in depressed individuals with an inflammatory phenotype.
methodsThe authors included randomized controlled trials of pharmacological anti-inflammatory treatments that assessed anhedonia or depressive symptom severity and recruited depressed individuals with an inflammatory phenotype or measured baseline inflammatory biomarkers that permitted post hoc analysis. A search was conducted in February 2025 of MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, and PsycINFO. Multiple reviewers independently applied criteria, and discrepancies were resolved via consensus. Two reviewers independently extracted data and cross-checked for errors.
resultsIn randomized controlled trials (k=11) using an established cutoff for elevated inflammation (C-reactive protein ≥2 mg/L), both anhedonia (Hedges' g=0.40, 95% CI=0.08, 0.71) and depressive symptoms (Hedges' g=0.35, 95% CI=0.05, 0.64) were reduced, but no differences in treatment response (relative risk=1.28, 95% CI=0.997, 1.64) or remission rates (relative risk=1.18, 95% CI=0.71, 1.95) were observed. Results did not vary by clinical, interventional, or demographic characteristics.
conclusionsAnti-inflammatory treatments may be safe and effective at reducing depressive symptoms and anhedonia in depressed individuals with heightened inflammation. Not accounting for inflammatory status may help explain prior mixed findings.
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Registered trials
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