Table 2 Overview of meta-analyses examining the cross-sectional association between biological dysregulations and depression status

Metabolic dysregulation

Metabolic syndrome

Pan et al. 2012¹[22]

29

155,333

OR = 1.42 (1.28 to 1.57)

Abdominal obesity

Xu et al. 2011¹[57]

15

34,832

OR = 1.38 (1.22 to 1.57)

Immuno-inflammatory dysregulation

C-Reactive Protein

Howren et al. 2009¹[58]

49

51,234

d = 0.15 (0.10 to 0.21)

Interleukin-6

61

24,837

d = 0.25 (0.18 to 0.31)

Interleukin-1β

14

756

d = 0.35 (0.03 to 0.67)

Interleukin-1RA

9

1,214

d = 0.25 (0.04 to 0.46)

Interleukin-6

Dowlati et al. 2010²[59]

16

892

MD = 1.8 pg/mL (1.2 to 2.3)

TNF-α

13

788

MD = 4.0 pg/mL (2.2 to 5.7)

Interleukin-1β

9

533

MD = -1.6 pg/mL (-3.6 to 0.4)

Soluble Interleukin-2R

Liu et al. 2012²[60]

8

596

MD = 0.56 pg/mL (0.28 to 0.84)

Interleukin-6

18

923

MD = 0.68 pg/mL (0.44 to 0.92)

TNF-α

15

995

MD = 0.55 pg/mL (0.13 to 0.99)

Interleukin-1β

10

580

MD = -0.53 pg/mL (-1.36 to 0.31)

Autonomic dysregulation

Heart rate variability

Rottenberg, 2007²[61]

13

686

d = 0.33 (0.18 to 0.49)

Heart rate variability

Kemp et al. 2010²[62]

14

726

Hedges’ g = -0.21 (-0.40 to -0.02)⁴

HPA-axis dysregulation

Higher cortisol ³

Stetler and Miller 2011¹[63]

354

18,374

d = 0.60 (0.54 to 0.66)

Higher ACTH

96

3,812

d = 0.28 (0.16 to 0.41)

Higher CRH

16

888

d = -0.53 (-1.71 to 0.65)

Saliva morning cortisol

Knorr et al. 2010¹[64]

20

2,318

MD = 2.6 nmol/l (1.0 to 4.2)

Saliva evening cortisol

10

1,617

MD = 0.3 nmol/l (0.03 to 0.5)