Both peripheral and central inflammation are associated with symptoms of pain and depression (Walker et al., 2013b), as characterized by dysregulation of the immune system (Burke et al., 2014), neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline and serotonin (Stahl and Briley, 2004; Goldenberg et al., 2010), neuropeptides such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) (Kramer et al., 1998; Werner and Coveñas, 2010), oxidative stress (Arora et al., 2011) and cytokines (Wallace, 2006; Dowlati et al., 2010). The gene discussed is GDNF; the disease is depressive disorder.