Inflammation, depressive symptoms, and emotion perception in adolescence

•This study assessed pro-inflammatory cytokines, depressive symptoms, and emotion perception, amongst adolescents with and without depressive mood disorders (DEP).•Inflammatory markers were sensitive to affective and somatic symptoms of depression and processing of emotional threat in adolescents.•In particular, IL-6 was elevated in depressed adolescents, related to depressed mood and perception of angry and neutral faces and may represent a specific target for modulating depressive symptoms and emotion processing dysfunction in adolescents.•Future research should evaluate whether IL-6 relates to course of depressive symptoms and emotion processing.