Trial reportBMC psychiatry2026
Increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor following successful psychological treatment in generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized clinical trial.
Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03930095 (A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Acceptance-based Behavioral Therapy With Mindfulness and Exposure Interventions for Generalized Anxiety Disorder), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Acceptance-based Behavioral Therapy With Mindfulness and Exposure Interventions for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has emerged as a key regulator of neuronal plasticity in the central nervous system. Successful biological interventions upregulate the expression of BDNF in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients, but no study of psychological treatments has been found. The present study aimed to evaluate changes in plasma BDNF levels following two psychological treatments with established clinical efficacy in patients with GAD. Methods: Participants were recruited for a 14-week, 10-session clinical trial of either group acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) or supportive therapy (ST). Eligible patients were GAD patients aged 18–65 years. Plasma BDNF was measured in 82 patients before and after the intervention (ABBT = 41, ST = 41). Correlation with anxiety symptom severity was also assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Scale at pre- and post-treatment. Results: BDNF increased in both groups over time (ST: difference = 2042.6, t = 4.81, p < 0.001 vs. ABBT: difference = 1947.8, t = 4.46, p < 0.001). Although anxiety symptoms decreased in both groups, no correlation between BDNF and anxiety severity was found. Conclusions: The present study suggests that a short-term trial of two clinically effective psychotherapeutic interventions was associated with increases in plasma BDNF levels in GAD patients. Given the absence of associations between BDNF changes and symptom severity, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and not as evidence of treatment-specific or mechanistic effects.
trial registrationNCT03930095|| https://www.clinicaltrials.gov / retrospectively registered on 15 April 2019.
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