ArticlePloS one2023
Peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and salivary cortisol levels in college students with different levels of academic stress. Study protocol.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06550167 (Neuroprotective Effect of Omega), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 papers.
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.
Neuroprotective Effect of Omega (Nano PSO), Changes in Neurotrophic BDNF and VEGF, and Their Association With Cognitive Status in Patients Who Used to Consume Psychoactive Substances
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Development and validation of the BASE-66 inventory for comprehensive academic stress measurement.PloS one · 2026Article
- Neurotrophic Control of Puberty: From Molecular Signaling to Disorders of Pubertal Timing.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Emotion regulation skills, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cortisol hormone levels in primary school students in Türkiye: a cross-sectional and correlational analysis study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Environmental degradation does not induce cortisol-measured stress in environmentally aware participants.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Plasma and Platelet Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Levels in Bipolar Disorder Patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or in a Major Depressive Episode Compared to Healthy Controls.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Academic stress in college students: descriptive analyses and scoring of the SISCO-II inventory.PeerJ · 2024Article
- Longitudinal analysis of academic stress and its effects on salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase, and academic outcomes: Study protocol.PloS one · 2024Article
- Association between salivary mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor and psychological distress in healthcare workers.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
- Brain-Heart Axis: Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Cardiovascular Disease-A Review of Systematic Reviews.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Associations of BDNF/BDNF-AS SNPs with Depression, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Increased academic stress is associated with decreased plasma BDNF in Chilean college students.PeerJ · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is essential for brain physiological processes influencing memory and learning. BDNF levels can be affected by many factors, including stress. Stress increase serum and salivary cortisol levels. Academic stress is of the chronic type. BDNF levels can be measure from serum, plasma or platelets, and there is still no standard methodology, which is relevant to ensure reproducibility and comparability between studies. HYPOTHESIS: (i) BDNF concentrations in serum show greater variability than in plasma. (ii) In college students with academic stress, peripheral BDNF decreases and salivary cortisol increases. GENERAL
objectiveTo standardize plasma and serum collection for BDNF levels and to determine whether academic stress affects peripheral BDNF and salivary cortisol levels.
designQuantitative research, with a non-experimental cross-sectional descriptive design.
participantsStudent volunteers. Under convenience sampling, 20 individuals will be included for standardization of plasma and serum collection and between 70 and 80 individuals to determine the effect of academic stress on BDNF and salivary cortisol. PERIPHERAL BLOOD AND SALIVARY CORTISOL SAMPLING, MEASUREMENTS: 12 mL of peripheral blood (with and without anticoagulant) will be drawn per participant, separated from plasma or serum and cryopreserved at -80°C. Additionally, they will be instructed in the collection of 1 mL of saliva samples, which will be centrifuged. Val66Met polymorphism will be performed by allele-specific PCR, while BDNF and salivary cortisol levels will be determined by ELISA. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: (i) descriptive analysis of the variables, through measures of central tendency and dispersion, and the categorical variables through their frequency and percentage. (ii) Then a bivariate analysis will be performed comparing groups using each variable separately. EXPECTED
resultsWe expect to (i) determine the analytical factors that allow a better reproducibility in the measurement of peripheral BDNF, and (ii) the effect of academic stress on BDNF and salivary cortisol levels.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.