Growing body of evidence suggests that inflammatory processes play an important role in the pathophysiology and the clinical course of depressive disorder, as well as several others major psychiatric and somatic conditions. Interleukin (IL-6), one of the proinflammatory cytokines, has been extensively examined in a number of studies among depressed pa-tients.
To assess quantitatively the relationship between depression and IL-6, a systematic review of relevant literature published to October 2009 was performed and relevant data were meta-analysed using random-effects model.