ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2024
Variations in BDNF and Their Role in the Neurotrophic Antidepressant Mechanisms of Ketamine and Esketamine: A Review.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The application of esketamine in cancer-related depressive states: attention from mechanisms to clinical translation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of esketamine on perioperative anxiety in patients receiving anesthesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Esketamine for Postoperative Anxiety After Major Abdominal Tumor Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Trial
- Effects of Esketamine on Post-Partum Depression in Patients With Different Personality Types Undergoing Caesarean Section: Randomised Controlled Trial.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Trial
- Effects of Subanesthetic Esketamine on Postoperative Sleep Quality Through EEG Analysis in Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Drug design, development and therapy · 2025Trial
- Esketamine Optimized the Efficacy of Dexmedetomidine in Treating Sleep Disorders with Comorbid Depression.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Trial
- Candidate Biomarkers of Bipolar Disorder Progression: Implications for Ketamine and Psychedelic Interventions.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- BDNF and GSK-3β signaling in depression: molecular mechanisms underlying neural plasticity dysfunction.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Multisystemic Consequences of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Haploinsufficiency in the SD-BDNFtm1sage Rat Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Microglia-Dependent BDNF Signaling in the Dentate Gyrus Underlies the Antidepressant Effects of Gardiquimod, a Toll-Like Receptor 7 Agonist, in Chronically Stressed Mice.Neurochemical research · 2026Article
- Adverse drug events and toxicological mechanisms of esketamine: a study based on US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System and network toxicology analysis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- TheFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sustained effectiveness and safety of esketamine for major depressive disorder: a target trial simulation of real-world data.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Ketamine or Esketamine in Special Populations of Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Review
- The Genetic Mosaic of Depression: Linking Polymorphisms to Neuroplasticity and Stress Regulation.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Transforming treatment-resistant depression (TRD) care in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: a narrative review of emerging therapies, advancements, and implementation barriers.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Review
- Baicalin Alleviates Chronic Restraint Stress-Induced Depression-like Behavior by Suppressing ROS/HAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Management of depression utilizing Traditional Chinese Medicine.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Network pharmacology of cellular targets in major depressive disorder and differential mechanisms of fluoxetine, ketamine and esketamine.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- Current State of the Neurotrophin-Based Pharmaceutics in the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Neuroinflammation.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is critical for neuroplasticity, synaptic transmission, and neuronal survival. Studies have implicated it in the pathophysiology of depression, as its expression is significantly reduced in brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in patients with depression. Our narrative review focuses on the relationship between BDNF, ketamine, and esketamine, specifically by summarizing human studies investigating BDNF variations in patients treated with these two drugs. BDNF plays a pivotal role in neuroplasticity and neurotrophic mechanisms that can be enhanced by traditional antidepressants, which have been shown to increase BDNF levels both peripherally and in targeted brain regions. Ketamine and its S-enantiomer, esketamine, exert both rapid and sustained antidepressant effects through activation of glutamate-related pathways, with neurotrophic effects involving BDNF, as demonstrated in experimental studies. However, clinical findings have shown mixed results, with most indicating an increase in plasma BDNF in patients treated with intravenous ketamine, although some studies contradict these findings. In addition to this, there are few studies of BDNF and esketamine. Currently, the limited number of studies suggests the need for further research, including larger sample sizes and investigations of BDNF and intranasal esketamine, which has been approved by several regulatory agencies for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression.
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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.