Table 4.

BDNF as biomarker in clinical studies. Presented data are based on clinical studies in MDD in which chronic pharmacological treatment with classical ADs deemed successful and resulted in slow mood improvement..

References	Treatment	Classic AD	BDNF (time after dosing)	Matrix	Baseline biomarker	Treatment response		Sample size (m/f)		p
					C/P	Biomarker	Mood	C	P
Pláteník and colleagues 81	Escita, ser, par, flu, mir, ven, traz, ago, benzo	Yes	BDNF (pr, 28 ± 15 days*)	Platelet-rich plasma	2.43/1.62 arbitrary unit	NR↓ (1)	HAMD, 7.6 ± 9.0↓	30/66	14/51	<0.05a,b,C
Ghosh and colleagues 102	Flu, desven	Yes	BDNF (pr, 12 weeks*)	Plasma	775.32 ± 30.38 pg/ml	850.3 ± 24.92 pg/ml↑	HAMD, 12.2 ± 4.58; 9.24 ± 3.98↓	NA	14/163	<0.05d,e
Kurita and colleagues 103	NR	NR	BDNF (pr, 8–12 weeks**)	Plasma	1827 ± 1340 pg/ml	2402 ± 1 610; 3158 ± 2033 pg/ml↑	MADRS, 10.9 ± 5.9; 5.0 ± 2.4↓	NA	19/19	<0.001d,e
Wolkowitz and colleagues 87	Escita, ser	Yes	BDNF (pr, 8 weeks*)	Serum	20.63 ± 4.81/15.28 ± 3.55 ng/ml	17.46 ± 3.96 ng/ml↑	HAMD, 14.5 ± 11.2↓	15 (m)	15 (m)	<0.01 b
										<0.001 d
										<0.05 e
Gonul and colleagues 29	Cita, ser, par, ven, flu	Yes	BDNF (pr, 8 weeks*)	Serum	26.8 ± 9.3/20.8 ± 6.7 ng/ml	33.3 ± 9.89 ng/ml↑	HAMD, 8.85 ± 3.15↓	6/12	7/21	<0.001d,e
										0.015 b
Aydemir and colleagues 89	Escita	Yes	BDNF (pr, 6 weeks*)	Serum	41.16 ± 15.14/27.68 ± 13.74 ng/ml	38.57 ± 15.30 ng/ml↑	HAMD, 9.31 ± 6.05↓	20 (f)	20 (f)	0.002 d
										<0.001 e
										0.010 b
Gervasoni and colleagues 99	Par, ven, clom	Yes	BDNF (pr, 13.5 ± 6 weeks*)	Serum	26.48 ± 3.6/22.68 ± 3.6 ng/ml	24.48 ± 3.6  ng/ml↑	NR	13/13	11/15	0.0002 b
Molendijk and colleagues 104	SSRI	Yes	BDNF (pr, NR)	Serum	~9.5 ng/ml/NA	~10–~11 ng/ml↑	NA	149/233	279 (m + f)	0.001 f
Katsuki and colleagues 82	Mir	Yes	BDNF (pr, 4 weeks*)	Serum	~7 ng/ml	~12 ng/ml↑	NR	NA	28/56	<0.05d,e
Cattaneo and colleagues 90	Escita	Yes	BDNF (pr, 12 weeks**)	Serum	40.92 ± 10.05/30.58 ± 9.13 ng/ml	41.38 ± 10.49 ng/ml↑	MADRS, 7.23 ± 5.15↓	7/16	4/17	<0.05 b
										0.777 d,e
Cattaneo and colleagues 90	Escita	Yes	BDNF (mRNA, 12 weeks**)	PBMCs/leukocytes	1.01 ± 0.22/0.48 ± 0.18	1.02 ± 0.15↑	MADRS, 7.23 ± 5.15↓	7/16	4/17	<0.001
										0.040 d
Cattaneo and colleagues 105	Escita	Yes	BDNF (mRNA, 12 weeks*)	PBMCs/leukocytes	0.95 ± 0.04/0.71 ± 0.01	1.10 ± 0.03↑	NS	15/19	31/43	<0.0001b,d
										<0.0001 d
Kimata 69	NA	NA	BDNF (pr)	CSF	~70/~15 pg/ml	NA	NA	8/12	8/12	<0.001 b
Pålhagen and colleagues 68	Cita	Yes	BDNF (pr, 12 weeks)	CSF	201 ± 55.1/66.5 ± 11.2 pg/ml	~100 pg/ml↑	HAMD, 12.9 ± 6.4; MADRS, 13.2 ± 5.7↓	NR	7/5	<0.001 e
										NR d
Martinez and colleagues 70	Ven	Yes	BDNF (pr, 8 weeks)	CSF	4.86 ± 2.22/4.28 ± 1.88 pg/ml	NR	HAMD, 10.6 ± 4.3↓	13/12	8/10	<0.001 e
						NS				NSb,d
Pillai and colleagues 71	NA	NA	BDNF (pr)	CSF	7.75 ± 3.08/6.57 ± 3.35 pg/ml	NA	NA	18	29	NS
Mizui and colleagues 73	NA	NA	BDNF (pr)	CSF	Undetectable	NA	NA	14/13	10/8	NA

pr, protein; mRNA, gene expression; m, male; f, female; C, control group; P, patient group; V, measured biomarker value; Dep, depression scale score; NA, not applicable; NR, not reported; ket, ketamine; mid, midazolam; escita, escitalopram; cita, citalopram; ser, sertraline; par, paroxetine; ven, venlafaxine; desven, desvenlafaxine; flu, fluoxetine; mir, mirtazapine; clom, clomipramine; traz, trazodone; ago, agomelatine; benzo, benzodiazepines. For all other abbreviations, see list of abbreviations.

^aCorrelation between biomarker and mood.

^bDifference from controls.

^cStudied on Alzheimer’s disease patients with and without depression.

^dDifference from (baseline) biomarker.

^eDifference from (baseline) mood/depression score.

^fDifference in biomarker between treated and untreated patients.

~Approximation.

↓Decrease compared with previous state.

↑Increase compared with previous state.

^*Measurement performed once.

^**Measurement performed two times.