MDD patients and controls with and without CA may very well have other monocyte gene-expression changes not directly related to inflammation and not reflected in the here-described set of preselected genes: others also showed the effects of immediate stress exposure on a few of the same inflammation-related monocyte genes as described here (HSPA1A, STX1A and IL-6), and on genes involved in other pathways63. Here, IL6 is linked to major depressive disorder.