A Pathway from Inflammation to Depression in Women

High rates of depression in inflammatory diseases, higher levels of inflammation markers in depression, and antidepressant effects of anti-inflammatory agents all suggest that inflammation may contribute to depression, perhaps by disrupting social connectedness. To examine how a transient, provoked inflammatory state would affect inflammation, mood, and feelings of social disconnection, researchers randomized 115 healthy people (69 women) to endotoxin or placebo.

As expected, endotoxin was associated with greater increases in the cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) through 6 hours after administration. Endotoxin was also associated with increases in depressed mood and social disconnection at 100 minutes post-ad…