Trial reportJournal of psychiatric research2009
Changes in BDNF serum levels in patients with major depression disorder (MDD) after 6 months treatment with sertraline, escitalopram, or venlafaxine.
Trial report in Journal of psychiatric research, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 252 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy and tolerability of nutraceuticals for depressive disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Comparing the effect of fluoxetine, escitalopram, and sertraline, on the level of BDNF and depression in preclinical and clinical studies: a systematic review.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Exercise improves depression through positive modulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). A review based on 100 manuscripts over 20 years.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Pooled it
- Association of peripheral manifestation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor with depression: A meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analyses of comparative efficacy of antidepressant medications on peripheral BDNF concentration in patients with depression.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Peripheral blood brain-derived neurotrophic factor in bipolar disorder: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2016Pooled it
- Serum BDNF concentrations as peripheral manifestations of depression: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analyses on 179 associations (N=9484).Molecular psychiatry · 2014Pooled it
- Measurement methods of BDNF levels in major depression: a qualitative systematic review of clinical trials.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2013Pooled it
- The impact of antidepressant treatment on brain-derived neurotrophic factor level: An evidence-based approach through systematic review and meta-analysis.Indian journal of pharmacologyPooled it
- Trial
- Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factors in Taiwanese Patients with Drug-Naïve First-Episode Major Depressive Disorder: Effects of Antidepressants.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- High baseline BDNF serum levels and early psychopathological improvement are predictive of treatment outcome in major depression.Psychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Effects of fluoxetine on brain-derived neurotrophic factor serum concentration and cognition in patients with vascular dementia.Clinical interventions in aging · 2014Trial
- Serum BDNF levels before treatment predict SSRI response in depression.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2011Trial
- Changes in plasma and platelet BDNF levels induced by S-citalopram in major depression.Psychopharmacology · 2011Trial
- Neopterin production and tryptophan degradation during 24-months therapy with interferon beta-1a in multiple sclerosis patients.Journal of translational medicine · 2011Trial
- Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor predicts responses to escitalopram in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2010Trial
- An Overview of Depression Pathogenesis: Prevailing Hypotheses and Associated Neurobiological Underpinnings Primarily Evidenced by Rodent Studies.Depression and anxiety · 2026Review
- Neuron-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Emerging Regulators in Central Nervous System Disease Progression.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Peripheral BDNF Levels in Individuals at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: A Systematic Review.Brain sciences · 2025Review
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Recent studies have implicated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the pathophysiology of depression and the activity of antidepressant drugs. Serum BDNF levels are lower in depressed patients, and increase in response to antidepressant medication. However, how BDNF responds to different classes of antidepressant drugs is unknown. We assessed serum BDNF levels in 21 patients with major depressive episode treated with sertraline, escitalopram, or venlafaxine and 20 healthy controls. Serum samples were collected between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. at baseline, 5 weeks, and 6 months of treatment. BDNF levels were measured via immunoassay. The severity of symptoms and response to treatment were assessed by the Hamilton rating scales for depression (HRSD). Baseline serum BDNF levels were significantly lower in depressed patients compared to controls. Sertraline increased BDNF levels after 5 weeks and 6 months of treatment. Venlafaxine increased BDNF levels only after 6 months. Escitalopram did not affect BDNF levels at either time point. A significant negative association was found between percentage increase in BDNF levels and percentage decreased in HRSD scores after 6 months of treatment. In conclusion, these results suggest that different antidepressant drugs have variable effects on serum BDNF levels. This is true even though the three different drugs were equally effective in relieving symptoms of depression and anxiety.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.