Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25050993›Full record

SynthesisTranslational psychiatry2014

Association of trauma exposure with proinflammatory activity: a transdiagnostic meta-analysis.

M Tursich, R W J Neufeld, P A Frewen, S Harricharan, J L Kibler, S G Rhind, R A Lanius

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Translational psychiatry, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 111 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
111citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

111 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 204 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
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  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. The Role of Long Non-Coding RNA in Anxiety Disorders: A Literature Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  12. Erectile Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Microglia-mediated neuroimmune suppression in PTSD is associated with anhedonia.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  19. Review
  20. The Long-Term Physical-Psychiatric Comorbidities Related to Childhood Exposure to 9/11 Trauma.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024
    Article

51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

M TursichDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
R W J Neufeld1] Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada [2] Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada [3] Department of Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
P A Frewen1] Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada [2] Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada [3] Department of Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
S HarricharanDepartment of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
J L KiblerCenter for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA.
S G RhindDefence Research and Development Canada, Toronto Research Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
R A Lanius1] Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada [2] Department of Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Western University · CADefence Research and Development Canada · CANova Southeastern University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Exposure to psychological trauma (for example, childhood/early life adversity, exposure to violence or assault, combat exposure, accidents or natural disasters) is known to increase one's risk of developing certain chronic medical conditions. Clinical and population studies provide evidence of systemic inflammatory activity in trauma survivors with various psychiatric and nonpsychiatric conditions. This transdiagnostic meta-analysis quantitatively integrates the literature on the relationship of inflammatory biomarkers to trauma exposure and related symptomatology. We conducted random effects meta-analyses relating trauma exposure to log-transformed inflammatory biomarker concentrations, using meta-regression models to test the effects of study quality and psychiatric symptomatology on the inflammatory outcomes. Across k=36 independent samples and n=14,991 participants, trauma exposure was positively associated with C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (mean rs =0.2455, 0.3067, 0.2890, and 0.2998, respectively). No significant relationships were noted with fibrinogen, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, or IL-10. In meta-regression models, the presence of psychiatric symptoms was a significant predictor of increased effect sizes for IL-1β and IL-6 (β=1.0175 and 0.3568, respectively), whereas study quality assessment scores were associated with increased effect sizes for IL-6 (β=0.3812). Positive correlations between inflammation and trauma exposure across a range of sample types and diagnoses were found. Although reviewed studies spanned an array of populations, research on any one specific psychiatric diagnosis was generally limited to one or two studies. The results suggest that chronic inflammation likely represents one potential mechanism underlying risk of health problems in trauma survivors.

Indexed as

C-Reactive ProteinCytokinesLife Change EventsSurvivorsHumansInflammationStress Disorders, TraumaticC-Reactive ProteinCytokines

Identifiers

PMID25050993
PMCPMC4119223
OpenAlexW2055568104

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.