---
title: "Psych News Alert: Inflammation Biomarker Linked to Depression"
description: Elevated levels in a common blood test used to measure inflammation are associated with increased risk for psychological distress and depres...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/HeadacheIllus_96786841-Jun-24-2025-09-45-34-4857-PM.jpg
---

 12/26/12 12:00 AM

# Inflammation Biomarker Linked to Depression

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/12/inflammation-biomarker-linked-to.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/12/inflammation-biomarker-linked-to.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/12/inflammation-biomarker-linked-to.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/12/inflammation-biomarker-linked-to.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/12/inflammation-biomarker-linked-to.html)

| [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/HeadacheIllus_96786841-4.jpg?width=150&height=200&name=HeadacheIllus_96786841-4.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/HeadacheIllus_96786841-4.jpg) |  |
| --- | --- |

Elevated levels in a common blood test used to measure inflammation are associated with increased risk for psychological distress and depression, according to Danish researchers writing online December 24 in *Archives of General Psychiatry*. Their study looked at the medical records of 73,131 people in Copenhagen. Odds ratios of distress, use of antidepressants, and hospitalization for depression were about double that of the general population for people with CRP levels above the standard cutoff of 10 mg/L.

How inflammation and depression interact is not well understood, wrote Børge Grønne Nordestgaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., of the Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, but inflammation may cause depression by reducing levels of serotonin, or depression may cause inflammation by activating stress hormones.

“More research is needed to establish the direction of the association between CRP and depression,” said the researchers. I n addition, intervention studies might test whether adding anti-inflammatory drugs to antidepressant treatment of depression would affect outcomes, they suggested.

To read more about recent research on the association between inflammation and psychiatric disorders, see *Psychiatric News* [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1387832) and [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1384231).

(Image: Gunnar Assmy/Shutterstock.com)

[psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatry), [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [inflammation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/inflammation), [psychological distress](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychological-distress), [biomarker](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/biomarker), [CRP](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/crp), [C-reactive protein](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/c-reactive-protein)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/blood-vials_iStock-1201599191-Jun-24-2025-05-39-22-5224-PM.jpg?height=200&name=blood-vials_iStock-1201599191-Jun-24-2025-05-39-22-5224-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/10/inflammation-may-be-linked-to-specific.html)

[ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [sleep](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sleep), [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [appetite](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/appetite), [inflammation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/inflammation), [IL-6](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/il-6), [motivation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/motivation), [interleukin-6](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/interleukin-6), [CRP](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/crp), [C-reactive protein](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/c-reactive-protein)

## [Inflammation May Be Linked to Specific Depression Symptoms, Study Suggests](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/10/inflammation-may-be-linked-to-specific.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 10/21/21 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/10/inflammation-may-be-linked-to-specific.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/older-patient-iStock-625049826-Jun-24-2025-09-14-50-5716-PM.jpg?height=200&name=older-patient-iStock-625049826-Jun-24-2025-09-14-50-5716-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/09/inflammation-from-infection-linked-to.html)

[Alzheimer's disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers-disease), [JAMA Network Open](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/jama-network-open), [inflammation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/inflammation), [hospitalization](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/hospitalization), [dementia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dementia), [risk](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/risk), [infection](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/infection), [autoimmune disorders](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autoimmune-disorders), [Denmark](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/denmark)

## [Inflammation From Infection Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia](https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/09/inflammation-from-infection-linked-to.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 9/8/23 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/09/inflammation-from-infection-linked-to.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/breakfast-iStock-1408374876-Jun-24-2025-05-24-13-8224-PM.jpg?height=200&name=breakfast-iStock-1408374876-Jun-24-2025-05-24-13-8224-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/12/skipping-breakfast-pro-inflammatory.html)

[depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [Journal of Affective Disorders](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/journal-of-affective-disorders), [anti-inflammatory](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anti-inflammatory), [diet](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diet), [breakfast](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/breakfast), [pro-inflammatory](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/pro-inflammatory)

## [Skipping Breakfast, Pro-Inflammatory Diet Linked to Depressive Symptoms](https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/12/skipping-breakfast-pro-inflammatory.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 12/8/23 12:00 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/12/skipping-breakfast-pro-inflammatory.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert",
    "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T21:50:08.863Z",
  "datePublished" : "2012-12-26T05:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Inflammation Biomarker Linked to Depression",
  "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/HeadacheIllus_96786841-Jun-24-2025-09-45-34-4857-PM.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/12/inflammation-biomarker-linked-to.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg"
    }
  }
}
```