Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28138831›Full record

SynthesisJournal of autism and developmental disorders2017

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Autism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Amene Saghazadeh, Nima Rezaei

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
61citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

61 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. Prenatal Interferon-Alpha Exposure Induces Autism-Like Neurobehavioral and Neurochemical Alterations in Male Offspring.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2026
    Article
  20. Review

1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Amene SaghazadehResearch Center for Immunodeficiencies, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nima RezaeiResearch Center for Immunodeficiencies, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. rezaei_nima@tums.ac.ir.
Children's Medical Center · IRTehran University of Medical Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. Altered blood BDNF levels have been frequently identified in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There are however wide discrepancies in the evidence. Therefore, we performed the present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at qualitative and quantitative synthesis of studies that measured blood BDNF levels in ASD and control subjects. Observational studies were identified through electronic database searching and also hand-searching of reference lists of relevant articles. A total of 183 papers were initially identified for review and eventually twenty studies were included in the meta-analysis. A meta-analysis of blood BDNF in 887 patients with ASD and 901 control subjects demonstrated significantly higher BDNF levels in ASD compared to controls with the SMD of 0.47 (95% CI 0.07-0.86, p = 0.02). In addition subgroup meta-analyses were performed based on the BDNF specimen. The present meta-analysis study led to conclusion that BDNF might play role in autism initiation/ propagation and therefore it can be considered as a possible biomarker of ASD.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderBiomarkersBrain-Derived Neurotrophic FactorFemaleHumansMaleBDNF protein, humanBiomarkersBrain-Derived Neurotrophic FactorAutismBrain-derived neurotrophic factorMeta-analysisNeuroplasticitySystematic review

Identifiers

PMID28138831
OpenAlexW2580631714

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.