ArticleEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2018
Vascular endothelial growth factor plasma levels in depression and following electroconvulsive therapy.
Article in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brain stimulation and VEGF concentrations: meta-analysis, meta-regression, and hierarchical cluster analysis of 200 correlations.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- The effects of ketamine and classic hallucinogens on neurotrophic and inflammatory markers in unipolar treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review of clinical trials.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Integration of network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation to elucidate the mechanism of Psychotria rubra in depression treatment.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2026Article
- Dihydromyricetin Modulates Neuropathic Pain and Depression: A Correlation with Hippocampal Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Mice.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Article
- Clinical Improvement in Depression and Cognitive Deficit Following Electroconvulsive Therapy.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis of Major Depressive Disorder.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2022Review
- Change of Circulating Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Level and Reduction of Anhedonia Are Associated in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Treated With Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy increases temporarily plasma vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with major depressive disorder.Brain and behavior · 2021Article
- Depression, GABA, and Age Correlate with Plasma Levels of Inflammatory Markers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
- Hippocampal volume change following ECT is mediated by rs699947 in the promotor region of VEGF.Translational psychiatry · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
Both animal and human studies have implicated the neurotrophic and angiogenic mediator vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in depression, with meta-analyses, indicating that protein levels are raised in patients with depression. In line with this, we have previously shown that VEGFA mRNA levels are higher in whole blood from patients with depression compared to controls, in particular in patients with psychotic unipolar depression, and that treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) alters VEGFA mRNA levels. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to extend this previous work by assessing plasma VEGF protein levels in patients with depression compared to healthy controls, and in patients following treatment with ECT. We found that there was no difference between controls and patients with depression with regard to plasma VEGF (p = 0.59), and that VEGF levels were unaltered by ECT (p = 0.09) after correction for potential covariates. We found no correlation between VEGF protein and mRNA levels. Within the subgroup of patients receiving treatment with bitemporal ECT (n = 34), we identified a moderate negative correlation (ρ = - 0.54, p = 0.001) between the change in VEGF and the change in depression severity following treatment; however, no other association between VEGF and mood, responder/remitter status, polarity of depression, or presence of psychosis were found. Overall, our results indicate that the measurement of VEGF protein is not a useful marker for depression or response to treatment, and suggest that the measurement of VEGFA mRNA may prove more useful.
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