Replication and reproducibility issues in the relationship between C-reactive protein and depression: A systematic review and focused meta-analysis

•Inflammation has been identified as a biological process relevant in depression.•C-reactive protein is a biomarker of inflammation.•Methodological inconsistences are widespread in the field.•Methodological inconsistences in the literature hinder reproducibility.•Methodologically rigorous studies ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain, behavior, and immunity behavior, and immunity, 2018-10, Vol.73, p.85-114
Main Authors: Horn, Sarah R., Long, Madison M., Nelson, Benjamin W., Allen, Nicholas B., Fisher, Philip A., Byrne, Michelle L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomarkers - blood
C-reactive protein
C-Reactive Protein - analysis
C-Reactive Protein - metabolism
C-Reactive Protein - physiology
Comorbidity
Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic
Depression
Depression - metabolism
Depressive Disorder - metabolism
Female
Humans
Inflammation - blood
Inflammation - metabolism
Male
Meta-analysis
Reproducibility
Reproducibility of Results
Systematic review
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Summary:•Inflammation has been identified as a biological process relevant in depression.•C-reactive protein is a biomarker of inflammation.•Methodological inconsistences are widespread in the field.•Methodological inconsistences in the literature hinder reproducibility.•Methodologically rigorous studies are needed to drive progress in the field. One of the most common inflammatory markers examined in depression is C-reactive protein (CRP). However, the magnitude of the association between CRP and depression when controlling for potentially confounding factors such as age, sex, socio-economic status, body mass index, medication and other substance use, and medical illness, is unclear. Inconsistencies in other methodological practices, such as sample collection, assaying, and data cleaning and transformation, may contribute to variations in results. We aggregate studies that examined the association between CRP and depression in two ways. First, a systematic review summarizes how studies of CRP and depression have reported on methodological issues. Second, a tiered meta-analysis aggregates studies that have adhered to various levels of methodological rigor. Findings from the systematic review indicate a lack of protocol detail provided. The effect between depression and CRP was small, but highly significant across all stages of the meta-analysis (p 
ISSN:0889-1591
1090-2139
1090-2139
DOI:10.1016/j.bbi.2018.06.016