ArticleBipolar disorders2025
Plasma Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Neurofilament Light Are Elevated in Bipolar Depression: Evidence for Neuroprogression and Astrogliosis.
Article in Bipolar disorders, 2025. 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.
- Exploring serum biomarkers in paediatric psychiatry: the impact of NfL and GFAP.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Plasma GFAP modifies the association of depressive symptoms with cognitive function: A population-based study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Sex-specific associations between astrocytic reactivity and cognitive decline in unimpaired elderly.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Plasma p-Tau217 and Aβ42/Aβ40 mediate the association between minimal depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Blood ATX(N) Biomarkers and Cognitive Dysfunction in Severe Mental Illnesses.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Clarifications and response to "Validating plasma biomarkers for distinguishing neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders" by Boccardi et al.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Molecular and Neuroimaging Correlates of Bipolar Disorder: Linking Inflammation, Mitochondria, and Brain Circuitry.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Preliminary Investigation of the Association Between Epigenetic Aging Acceleration and Amyloid Biomarkers in Bipolar Disorder.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Plasma p-tau217, NfL, GFAP diagnostic performance and biomarker profiles in Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and psychiatric disorders, in a prospective unselected neuropsychiatry memory clinic.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Studying the potential ameliorative effect of biosynthesized selenium nanoparticles using epigallocatechin gallate against depression in rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundRecent advances now allow detection of brain-specific proteins in blood, including neurofilament light chain (NfL), a marker of axonal pathology, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), indicative of astrocytic activation. Given the evidence of astroglial pathology and neuronal dysfunction in bipolar disorder, and ongoing debates on neuroprogression, we investigated plasma NfL and GFAP levels in affected individuals.
methodsThis study analysed plasma NfL and GFAP measured in 216 individuals using Simoa. We used bootstrapped general linear models (GLM) to compare plasma NfL and GFAP levels between people with bipolar depression (n = 120) and healthy controls (n = 96), adjusting for age, sex, and weight. We examined associations between these biomarkers and clinical variables while adjusting for multiple comparisons. For sensitivity analyses, predictors were evaluated using Bayesian model averaging (BMA).
resultsPlasma GFAP (β = 0.21 [0.07, 0.35], p = 0.006) and NfL (β = 0.06 [0.01, 0.10], p = 0.028) were elevated in people with bipolar depression. Illness duration was positively associated with NfL (r = 2.97, p = 0.002), and further supported by BMA analysis (posterior inclusion probability, PIP = 0.85). Age of onset was positively associated with GFAP (r = 0.246 p = 0.041), which was also supported by BMA analysis (PIP = 0.67).
conclusionsThese findings indicate increased plasma NfL and GFAP levels in bipolar disorder. Our findings support the neuroprogression hypothesis, where prolonged illness duration contributes to neuroaxonal damage. Elevated GFAP in those with later onset suggests a role for neuroinflammation, potentially linked to increased cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities.
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