NLRP3, a complex of pattern recognition receptors, and its active form, the inflammasome play critical roles in activating IL‐1β and IL‐18, and have been implicated in multiple chronic inflammatory diseases, such as infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and arteriosclerosis, all of which are common comorbidities of depression 25, 26, 27, 28. This evidence concerns the gene IL18 and infectious disease.