SynthesisBMC medicine2015
Peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a biomarker in bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis of 52 studies.
Synthesis in BMC medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 118 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
118 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 282 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of cannabis use on blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF): A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Biomarkers of neuroprogression and late staging in bipolar disorder: A systematic review.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Charting the proteome landscape in major psychiatric disorders: From biomarkers to biological pathways towards drug discovery.European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Cognitive Dysfunction in the Schizophrenia-Bipolar Spectrum: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor and type 2 diabetes and glycemic profile.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- The Epigenetic Overlap between Obesity and Mood Disorders: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Pooled it
- Evidence-based umbrella review of 162 peripheral biomarkers for major mental disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Neurotrophins, cytokines, oxidative stress mediators and mood state in bipolar disorder: systematic review and meta-analyses.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2018Pooled it
- Association between Obesity and Circulating Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Levels: Systematic Review of Literature and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2018Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis of BDNF Levels in Autism.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2017Pooled it
- Decrease in brain-derived neurotrophic factor at plasma level but not in serum concentrations in suicide behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2017Pooled it
- A Multicentre, Randomised, Controlled Trial of a Combined Clinical Treatment for First-Episode Psychosis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Association of serum BDNF levels and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism with the sleep pattern in healthy young adults.PloS one · 2018Trial
- Women With Bipolar Disorder are at Increased Risk of Sarcopenia.Bipolar disorders · 2026Article
- Peripheral BDNF-TrkB Expression and Vitamin D Status in Depression, Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Biomarker Study.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Assessing molecular gene by treatment interactions using a population of neural progenitors exposed to valproic acid and lithium.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Candidate Biomarkers of Bipolar Disorder Progression: Implications for Ketamine and Psychedelic Interventions.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Association of anhedonia with brain-derived neurotrophic factor and oxidative stress in bipolar disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Integrated Chemometric and Machine Learning Analysis Identifies Peripheral Biosignatures Distinguishing Major Depressive Disorder from Bipolar Disorder: A Translational Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
58 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 10 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe neurotrophic hypothesis postulates that mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (BD) are associated with a lower expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, its role in peripheral blood as a biomarker of disease activity and of stage for BD, transcending pathophysiology, is still disputed. In the last few years an increasing number of clinical studies assessing BDNF in serum and plasma have been published. Therefore, it is now possible to analyse the association between BDNF levels and the severity of affective symptoms in BD as well as the effects of acute drug treatment of mood episodes on BDNF levels.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies on serum and plasma BDNF levels in bipolar disorder.
resultsThrough a series of meta-analyses including a total of 52 studies with 6,481 participants, we show that, compared to healthy controls, peripheral BDNF levels are reduced to the same extent in manic (Hedges' g = -0.57, P = 0.010) and depressive (Hedges' g = -0.93, P = 0.001) episodes, while BDNF levels are not significantly altered in euthymia. In meta-regression analyses, BDNF levels additionally negatively correlate with the severity of both manic and depressive symptoms. We found no evidence for a significant impact of illness duration on BDNF levels. In addition, in plasma, but not serum, peripheral BDNF levels increase after the successful treatment of an acute mania episode, but not of a depressive one.
conclusionsIn summary, our data suggest that peripheral BDNF levels, more clearly in plasma than in serum, is a potential biomarker of disease activity in BD, but not a biomarker of stage. We suggest that peripheral BDNF may, in future, be used as a part of a blood protein composite measure to assess disease activity in BD.
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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.