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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
Peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor in schizophrenia and the role of antipsychotics: Meta-analysis and implications
Molecular Psychiatry, Volume 20, No. 9, Year 2015
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Description
It has been postulated that schizophrenia (SZ) is related to a lower expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In the past few years, an increasing number of divergent clinical studies assessing BDNF in serum and plasma have been published. It is now possible to verify the relationship between BDNF levels and severity of symptoms in SZ as well as the effects of antipsychotic drugs on BDNF using meta-analysis. The aims of this study were to verify if peripheral BDNF is decreased in SZ, whether its levels are correlated with positive and negative symptomatology and if BDNF levels change after antipsychotic treatment. This report consists of two distinct meta-analyses of peripheral BDNF in SZ including a total of 41 studies and more than 7000 participants: (1) peripheral BDNF levels in serum and plasma were moderately reduced in SZ compared with controls. Notably, this decrease was accentuated with the disease duration. However, the extent of peripheral BDNF level decrease did not correlate with the severity of positive and negative symptoms. (2) In plasma, but not serum, peripheral BDNF levels are consistently increased after antipsychotic treatment irrespective of the patient's response to medication. In conclusion, there is compelling evidence that there are decreased levels of peripheral BDNF in SZ, in parallel to previously described reduced cerebral BDNF expression. It remains unclear whether these systemic changes are causally related to the development of SZ or if they are merely a pathologic epiphenomenon. © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Berk, Michael
Australia, Geelong
Barwon Health
Australia, Melbourne
Orygen Research Centre
Molendijk, Marc L.
Netherlands, Leiden
Universiteit Leiden
González-Pinto, Ana María
Spain, Madrid
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental
Gonçalves, Carlos Alberto Saraiva
Brazil, Porto Alegre
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Statistics
Citations: 184
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/mp.2014.117
ISSN:
13594184
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Mental Health
Study Approach
Systematic review