Evidence mapPaperPMID 39463449Full record

ReviewMolecular psychiatry2025

Role of glia in delirium: proposed mechanisms and translational implications.

Áine Bríd Heffernan, Moritz Steinruecke, Georgia Dempsey, Siddharthan Chandran, Bhuvaneish T Selvaraj, Zoeb Jiwaji, Maria Stavrou

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Molecular psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
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

14 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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  6. Article
  7. Animal models of delirium: a narrative review.Translational psychiatry · 2026
    Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
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  14. Article
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.

Áine Bríd HeffernanUK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Moritz SteinrueckeUniversity of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1647-4481
Georgia DempseySchool of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1854-8336
Siddharthan ChandranUK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Bhuvaneish T SelvarajUK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Zoeb JiwajiUK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Maria StavrouUK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. mstavrou@exseed.ed.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6074-5050

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Delirium is a common acute onset neurological syndrome characterised by transient fluctuations in cognition. It affects over 20% of medical inpatients and 50% of those critically ill. Delirium is associated with morbidity and mortality, causes distress to patients and carers, and has significant socioeconomic costs in ageing populations. Despite its clinical significance, the pathophysiology of delirium is understudied, and many underlying cellular mechanisms remain unknown. There are currently no effective pharmacological treatments which directly target underlying disease processes. Although many studies focus on neuronal dysfunction in delirium, glial cells, primarily astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes, and their associated systems, are increasingly implicated in delirium pathophysiology. In this review, we discuss current evidence which implicates glial cells in delirium, including biomarker studies, post-mortem tissue analyses and pre-clinical models. In particular, we focus on how astrocyte pathology, including aberrant brain energy metabolism and glymphatic dysfunction, reactive microglia, blood-brain barrier impairment, and white matter changes may contribute to the pathogenesis of delirium. We also outline limitations in this body of work and the unique challenges faced in identifying causative mechanisms in delirium. Finally, we discuss how established neuroimaging and single-cell techniques may provide further mechanistic insight at pre-clinical and clinical levels.

Indexed as

DeliriumNeurogliaAnimalsAstrocytesBlood-Brain BarrierBrainHumansMicrogliaTranslational Research, Biomedical

Identifiers

PMID39463449
PMCPMC11835730

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.