ReviewEndocrine reviews2020
GDF15: A Hormone Conveying Somatic Distress to the Brain.
Review in Endocrine reviews, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 140 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
140 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 225 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Investigational eIF2B activator DNL343 modulates the integrated stress response in preclinical models of TDP-43 pathology and individuals with ALS in a randomized clinical trial.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Circulating total and intact GDF-15 levels are not altered in response to weight loss induced by liraglutide or lorcaserin treatment in humans with obesity.Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 2022Trial
- Associations of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Chronic Kidney Disease.Kidney international reports · 2026Article
- The causes of cachexia: key signals and the brain.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- GDF15 promotes 5-Fluorouracil and Oxaliplatin resistance by promoting stem cell-like phenotype in colorectal cancer.British journal of cancer · 2026Article
- GDF15 in Liver Fibrosis: Molecular Mechanisms, Immunoregulatory Functions, and Therapeutic Potential.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- GDF-15: Can It Be Used as a Biomarker in Acute Cerebrovascular Incidents?Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Hopx(+) optic nerve head-astrocytes counter neuronal stress and glaucoma damage.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Genetic mechanisms, brain structures, and peripheral biomarkers mediate the relationship between physical frailty and neuropsychiatric disorders.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Growth differentiation factor 15 predicts physical function impairment in Spanish older adults: a real-world prospective study.GeroScience · 2026Article
- A loss-of-function variant in GFRAL associates with increased alcohol consumption in humans.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Impact of acute anorexia nervosa and of short-/long-term recovery after refeeding on the hormonal profiles of activin A, GDF-15 and follistatins.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- GDF15 in Patients with Autoimmune Primary Adrenal Insufficiency.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- The Role of New Agents and Supportive Care in a Multimodal Approach to Cancer Cachexia.Cancers · 2026Review
- Mechanistic insights into the liver-brain axis during chronic liver disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Immunomodulatory functions of growth differentiation factor 15 in skin aging and inflammatory dermatoses.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) as an emerging biomarker for cardiovascular and kidney diseases, a therapeutic target in cancer and a potential biomarker for preeclampsia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Crosstalk in the kidney-muscle axis: myokines and muscle-relevant mediators in chronic kidney disease-associated sarcopenia.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
80 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
GDF15 has recently gained scientific and translational prominence with the discovery that its receptor is a GFRAL-RET heterodimer of which GFRAL is expressed solely in the hindbrain. Activation of this receptor results in reduced food intake and loss of body weight and is perceived and recalled by animals as aversive. This information encourages a revised interpretation of the large body of previous research on the protein. GDF15 can be secreted by a wide variety of cell types in response to a broad range of stressors. We propose that central sensing of GDF15 via GFRAL-RET activation results in behaviors that facilitate the reduction of exposure to a noxious stimulus. The human trophoblast appears to have hijacked this signal, producing large amounts of GDF15 from early pregnancy. We speculate that this encourages avoidance of potential teratogens in pregnancy. Circulating GDF15 levels are elevated in a range of human disease states, including various forms of cachexia, and GDF15-GFRAL antagonism is emerging as a therapeutic strategy for anorexia/cachexia syndromes. Metformin elevates circulating GDF15 chronically in humans and the weight loss caused by this drug appears to be dependent on the rise in GDF15. This supports the concept that chronic activation of the GDF15-GFRAL axis has efficacy as an antiobesity agent. In this review, we examine the science of GDF15 since its identification in 1997 with our interpretation of this body of work now being assisted by a clear understanding of its highly selective central site of action.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.