Table 1.

Inflammatory markers and studies that show their link to delirium and dementia

Marker	Pro/anti‐inflammatory	Role in delirium and dementia
IL‐1	Proinflammatory	Increases neuronal tau phosphorylation [45] and activates astrocytes [46]; polymorphism linked to increased risk of AD [47, 49, 50]; levels elevated in AD [66, 72]
IL‐6	Proinflammatory	Levels elevated in delirium [26, 27, 28, 29, 30]; polymorphism linked to increased risk of AD [47]; levels linked to gray matter volume and memory function [51]; levels elevated in non‐AD dementia [73]
IL‐8	Proinflammatory	Levels elevated in delirium [26, 27]
IL‐RA	Anti‐inflammatory	Levels decreased in delirium [32]
TNF‐α	Proinflammatory	Polymorphism linked to increased risk of AD [47, 48]; levels elevated in AD [67, 70, 72]; elevated levels linked to cognitive decline [4]
IGF‐1	Anti‐inflammatory	Levels decreased in delirium [32, 35, 36]
IFN‐γ	Proinflammatory	Levels decreased in delirium [32, 35, 36]
CRP	Proinflammatory	Higher levels linked to poor cognitive performance/increased risk of cognitive decline [68]