Trial reportTranslational psychiatry2015
Serum pro-BDNF/BDNF as a treatment biomarker for response to docosahexaenoic acid in traumatized people vulnerable to developing psychological distress: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Translational psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early pharmacological interventions for prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individuals experiencing acute traumatic stress symptoms.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Early pharmacological interventions for universal prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- High-dose eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) improves attention and vigilance in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and low endogenous EPA levels.Translational psychiatry · 2019Trial
- An increase in plasma brain derived neurotrophic factor levels is related to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid efficacy in first episode schizophrenia: secondary outcome analysis of the OFFER randomized clinical trial.Psychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- Article
- Scientific Opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for supplemental docosahexaenoic acid.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2026Article
- A comparison of commercial assays quantifying mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (mBDNF) and its precursor (pro-BDNF) in human serum.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation and Neuroprotection, Inflammation, Fatigue, and Physical Activity in Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Preliminary evaluation on the effect of oral omega-3 supplementation from herring caviar oil in primary open-angle glaucoma patients.International ophthalmology · 2025Observational
- Oxidative Stress in Traumatic Brain Injury.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- PTSD as an Endothelial Disease: Insights From COVID-19.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2021Review
- Antioxidant Therapies in Traumatic Brain Injury.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Free Fatty Acids and Their Inflammatory Derivatives Affect BDNF in Stroke Patients.Mediators of inflammation · 2020Article
- LINK-A lncRNA is upregulated in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and is associated with poor prognosis.Oncology letters · 2019Article
- A cross-sectional study of fatty acids and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in human milk from lactating women following vegan, vegetarian, and omnivore diets.European journal of nutrition · 2019Observational
- Article
- Integrative Therapy Approaches for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Special Focus on Treating Veterans.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2017Review
- Peripheral Biomarker Candidates of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Experimental neurobiology · 2015Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Our open-label pilot study showed that supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) increased serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and that there might be an association between changes in serum BDNF levels and reduced psychological distress. Animal research has indicated that a DHA-enriched diet increases BDNF in the brain. In this randomized double-blind controlled trial of severely injured patients vulnerable to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, we examined whether DHA increases serum BDNF levels and whether changes in BDNF levels are associated with subsequent symptoms of PTSD and depression. Patients received 1470 mg per day of DHA plus 147 mg per day of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; n = 53) or placebo (n = 57) for 12 weeks. Serum levels of mature BDNF and precursor pro-BDNF at baseline and 12-week follow-up were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. At 12 weeks, we used the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale to assess PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms by the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. We found a significant increase in serum BDNF levels during the trial in the DHA and placebo groups with no interaction between time and group. Changes in BDNF levels were not associated with PTSD severity but negatively associated with depression severity (Spearman's ρ = -0.257, P = 0.012). Changes in pro-BDNF were also negatively associated with depression severity (Spearman's ρ = -0.253, P = 0.013). We found no specific effects of DHA on increased serum levels of BDNF and pro-BDNF; however, evidence in this study suggests that increased BDNF and pro-BDNF have a protective effect by minimizing depression severity.
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