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Meta-Analysis
. 2016 Jul 4:68:1-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2016.02.006. Epub 2016 Feb 20.

A meta-analysis of chemokines in major depression

Harris A Eyre  1 , Tracy Air  2 , Alyssa Pradhan  2 , James Johnston  2 , Helen Lavretsky  3 , Michael J Stuart  4 , Bernhard T Baune  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of chemokines in major depression

Harris A Eyre et al. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Chemokines are increasingly recognised as playing a role in depression. Here we meta-analyse the data on concentrations of all chemokines in patients diagnosed with a major depression versus healthy controls. We included studies which utilised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-IV diagnostic criteria for major depression, participants free from major medical conditions, studies with healthy controls, and unstimulated measurements of chemokines. We only included chemokines which had ≥3 studies performed. Two chemokines and 15 studies in total met criteria for this meta-analysis; 8 for Monocyte Chemotactic Protein (MCP)-1/CCL2 (n=747), and 7 for Interleukin (IL)-8/CXCL8 (n=560). There were significantly higher concentrations of CCL2/MCP-1 in depressed subjects compared with control subjects - overall mean difference of 36.43pg/mL (95% CI: 2.43 to 70.42). There was significant heterogeneity across these studies (I2=98.5%). The estimates of mean difference between the control and depression groups did not remain significant when the trim-and-fill procedure was used to correct for publication bias. There was no significant difference in concentrations of IL-8/CXCL8 in depressed subjects compared with control subjects. Significant heterogeneity was found across these studies (I2=96.7%). The estimates of mean difference between the control and depression groups remained non-significant when the trim-and-fill procedure was used to correct for publication bias. This meta-analysis reports significantly heterogeneity in this field among studies. There are higher concentrations of the chemokine MCP-1/CCL2 in depressed subjects compared with control subjects, and no differences for IL-8/CXCL8. More high quality research and consistent methodologies are needed in this important area of enquiry.

Keywords: Chemokine; Cytokine; Depression; Diagnosis; Inflammation; Meta-analysis; Mood disorder.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study selection and inclusion process for meta-analyses.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot showing individual and combined effect size estimates and 95% CIs for all trials in the analysis for MCP-1/CCL2.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot showing individual and combined effect size estimates and 95% CIs for all trials in the analysis for IL-8/CXCL8.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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