The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Clinical anxiety, cortisol and interleukin-6: Evidence for specificity in emotion–biology relationships
Open accessAbstract
Anxiety confers increased risk for inflammatory diseases, and elevated inflammatory activity in anxious individuals may contribute to this increased risk. One complication, however, is that anxiety could be associated with inflammatory activity either through a specific anxiety pathway or through a more general negative emotionality pathway. To investigate, we measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol, the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the systemic inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as depression and neuroticism, in clinically anxious and non-anxious adults. Compared with non-anxious participants, clinically anxious participants exhibited significantly lower levels of morning cortisol and significantly higher levels of IL-6, independent of age, sex, and depressive symptoms. These group differences were robust when controlling for neuroticism. Conversely, the groups had equivalent levels of CRP in all analyses. Results are indicative of anxiety-specific effects on inflammatory activity, and highlight a pathway by which anxiety may increase risk for inflammatory diseases.
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“and some studies have failed to find an association between depression and inflammation.[7][8][9]”
In the citing paper
“However, there is wide variability in the levels of inflammation observed in depressed individuals, and some studies have failed to find an association between depression and inflammation.[7][8][9]”
In the citing paper
“High levels of CRP and IL-6 were also reported in individuals with anxiety disorders [6, 7].”
From Interleukin-6 Induced by Social Stress Promotes a Unique Transcriptional Signature in the Monocytes That Facilitate Anxiety (2019) · cites this paper as [7]
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Cites
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“Given that anxiety disorders tend to have an early onset and a chronic course (Kessler et al., 2005; Thyer et al., 1985), exaggerated threat perception across many years could manifest as chronic exposure to biological stress reactivity.”
BackgroundDepression and quality of life in older persons: A review
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BackgroundFrom inflammation to sickness and depression: when the immune system subjugates the brain
Dantzer, R., O'Connor, J. C., Freund, G. G., Johnson, R. W., & Kelley, K. W. (2008) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2297 · Cited by 7,395 · cited 2×
“In contrast with the large body of research examining the association between depression and inflammation (Dantzer et al., 2008), evidence regarding the association between anxiety and inflammatory activity is limited.”
BackgroundResultSelye, H. (1956) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 5,224
Miller, G. E., Chen, E., & Zhou, E. S. (2007) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.25 · Cited by 2,467 · cited 2×
“Exaggerated and sustained threat perception in anxious individuals may result in chronic activation of the biological stress response, leading to reduced secretion of the HPA axis hormone cortisol during the morning period (Miller et al., 2007), and elevated inflammatory activity (Kiecolt-Glaser et al.”
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Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Preacher, K. J., MacCallum, R. C., Atkinson, C., Malarkey, W. B., & Glaser, R. (2003) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1531903100 · Cited by 1,267 · cited 2×
“, 2007), and elevated inflammatory activity (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2003).”
ResultEmotions, morbidity, and mortality: new perspectives from psychoneuroimmunology.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., McGuire, L., Robles, T. F., & Glaser, R. (2002) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135217 · Cited by 1,176 · cited 1×
“Negative emotions such as anxiety and depression confer increased risk for disorders with an inflammatory etiology, and elevated inflammatory activity may be an important mediator of emotion–disease relationships (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2002).”
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Slavich, G. M., & Irwin, M. R. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0035302 · Cited by 2,206
“…including IL-1, IL-6, and TNF- , as well as higher levels of the systemic inflammatory biomarker CRP (Dowlati et al., 2010; Hiles, Baker, de Malmanche, & Attia, 2012; Howren, Lamkin, & Suls, 2009; Kuo et al., 2005; Zorrilla et al., 2001; see also Herbert & Cohen, 1993a; cf. O’Donovan et al., 2010).”
BackgroundSelf-citationInflammation in Fear- and Anxiety-Based Disorders: PTSD, GAD, and Beyond
Michopoulos, V., Powers, A., Gillespie, C. F., Ressler, K. J., & Jovanovic, T. (2017) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2016.146 · Cited by 786
“…populations, researchers have found evidence that anxiety is related to higher concentrations of CRP and peripheral cytokines (Brennan et al, 2009; O'Donovan et al, 2010; Pitsavos et al, 2006) and predicts increased inflammatory response following acute stress (Carroll et al, 2011; Moons et al,…”
BackgroundTransformational Teaching: Theoretical Underpinnings, Basic Principles, and Core Methods
Slavich, G. M., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2012) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-012-9199-6 · Cited by 646
Self-citationThe Emerging Field of Human Social Genomics
Slavich, G. M., & Cole, S. W. (2013) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702613478594 · Cited by 523
“, 2012; Monroe & Slavich, 2007; Monroe, Slavich, & Georgiades, 2009; Slavich, Thornton, Torres, Monroe, & Gotlib, 2009)? And, are the mechanisms that link these different experiences to transcriptional changes the same or different for different social influences (O’Donovan et al., 2010)? Future research is also neede…”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe role of inflammation and the gut microbiome in depression and anxiety
Peirce, J. M., & Alviña, K. (2019) · Journal of Neuroscience Research · doi:10.1002/jnr.24476 · Cited by 466
“Studies of clinically diagnosed anxious patients have reported increased levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines compared to healthy individuals (Duivis et al., 2013; O'Donovan et al., 2010; Pitsavos et al., 2006).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- O’Donovan, A., Hughes, B. M., Slavich, G. M., Lynch, L., Cronin, M.-T., O’Farrelly, C., & Malone, K. M.
- Affiliations
- University College Dublin (IE)
- Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway (IE)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- St. Vincent's University Hospital (IE)
- Trinity College Dublin (IE)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-10
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1074-1077
- ISSN
- 0889-1591 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4361085
- OpenAlex
- W2010803460
- Cited by
- 296
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 5.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Brain Behavior and Immunity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ARAN (University of Galway Research Repository) (Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- ARAN (University of Galway Research Repository) (Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- University of Galway Research Repository (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Trinity's Access to Research Output (TARA) (Trinity College Dublin) (submittedVersion)
- Lenus, The Irish Health Repository (Dr Steevens Hospital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Research Repository UCD (University College Dublin) (cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH019925)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- clinical anxiety, cortisol, interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, inflammation, neuroticism, depression, inflammatory diseases, stress hormones, inflammatory cytokines
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, C-Reactive Protein, Depression, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Neurotic Disorders, Personality Inventory, Surveys and Questionnaires, Saliva, Interleukin-6
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