SynthesisSystematic reviews2015
Association between BDNF levels and suicidal behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inflammation and nitro-oxidative stress in current suicidal attempts and current suicidal ideation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled 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
- Epigenetic Evidence Implies Disturbed Proteostasis and Potentially Protein Aggregation in Suicidality.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Suicide Behavior as a Distinct Psychobiology in Major Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Neurofilament light chain level is associated with lifetime suicidal behaviors.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor and C-reactive protein (CRP) biomarkers in suicide attempter and non-attempter major depression disorder (MDD) patients.Annals of general psychiatry · 2024Article
- Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Peripheral Markers of Suicidal Behavior: Current Findings and Clinical Implications.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Review
- Elevated Plasma Levels of Mature Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Major Depressive Disorder Patients with Higher Suicidal Ideation.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- Suicide and Neurotrophin Factors: A Systematic Review of the Correlation between BDNF and GDNF and Self-Killing.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Investigating Predictive Factors of Suicidal Re-attempts in Adolescents and Young Adults After a First Suicide Attempt, a Prospective Cohort Study. Study Protocol of the SURAYA Project.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Review
- Clustering suicidal phenotypes and genetic associations with brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with substance use disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Exploring the Impact of Modifiable Factors on Serum BDNF in Psychiatric Patients and Community Controls.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2021Article
- Article
- Understanding the Complex of Suicide in Depression: from Research to Clinics.Psychiatry investigation · 2020Article
- Article
- Examination of pain threshold and neuropeptides in patients with acute suicide risk.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2019Article
- Low serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor is associated with suicidal ideation in major depressive disorder.Psychiatry research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSuicidal behaviour is a complex phenomenon with a multitude of risk factors. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein crucial to nervous system function, may be involved in suicide risk. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate and summarize the literature examining the relationship between BDNF levels and suicidal behaviour.
methodsA predefined search strategy was used to search MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and CINAHL from inception to December 2015. Studies were included if they investigated the association between BDNF levels and suicidal behaviours (including completed suicide, attempted suicide, or suicidal ideation) by comparing BDNF levels in groups with and without suicidal behaviour. Only the following observational studies were included: case-control and cohort studies. Both clinical- and community-based samples were included. Screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were conducted in duplicate.
resultsSix-hundred thirty-one articles were screened, and 14 were included in the review. Three studies that assessed serum BDNF levels in individuals with suicide attempts and controls were combined in a meta-analysis that showed no significant association between serum BDNF and suicide attempts. The remaining 11 studies were not eligible for the meta-analysis and provided inconsistent findings regarding associations between BDNF and suicidal behaviour.
conclusionsThe findings of the meta-analysis indicate that there is no significant association between serum BDNF and attempted suicide. The qualitative review of the literature did not provide consistent support for an association between BDNF levels and suicidal behaviour. The evidence has significant methodological limitations. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42015015871.
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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.