ArticleTranslational psychiatry2021
The placenta protects the fetal circulation from anxiety-driven elevations in maternal serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
Article in Translational psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infant emergency department visits, readmission, and mortality by maternal anxiety disorder during pregnancy occurring with and without other mental health conditions: a retrospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Review
- Stress in pregnancy - Implications for fetal BDNF in amniotic fluid at birth.Neurobiology of stress · 2024Article
- Physically active pregnancies: Insights from the placenta.Physiological reports · 2024Review
- Neurotrophin signalling in the human nervous system.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor released from blood platelets prevents dendritic atrophy of lesioned adult central nervous system neurons.Brain communications · 2023Article
- Cord serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels at birth associate with temperament outcomes at one year.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Article
- Article
- Review
- Symptoms of Prenatal Depression Associated with Shorter Telomeres in Female Placenta.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays crucial roles in brain function. Numerous studies report alterations in BDNF levels in human serum in various neurological conditions, including mood disorders such as depression. However, little is known about BDNF levels in the blood during pregnancy. We asked whether maternal depression and/or anxiety during pregnancy were associated with altered serum BDNF levels in mothers (n = 251) and their new-born infants (n = 212). As prenatal exposure to maternal mood disorders significantly increases the risk of neurological conditions in later life, we also examined the possibility of placental BDNF transfer by developing a new mouse model. We found no association between maternal symptoms of depression and either maternal or infant cord blood serum BDNF. However, maternal symptoms of anxiety correlated with significantly raised maternal serum BDNF exclusively in mothers of boys (r = 0.281; P = 0.005; n = 99). Serum BDNF was significantly lower in male infants than female infants but neither correlated with maternal anxiety symptoms. Consistent with this observation, we found no evidence for BDNF transfer across the placenta. We conclude that the placenta protects the developing fetus from maternal changes in serum BDNF that could otherwise have adverse consequences for fetal development.
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Registered trials
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