Serum BDNF Levels are Not Associated with the Antidepressant Effects of Nonconvulsive Electrotherapy

Wei Zheng; Miao-Ling Jiang; Hong-Bo He; Ri-Peng Li; Qi-Long Li; Chun-Ping Zhang; Su-Miao Zhou; Su Yan; Yu-Ping Ning; Xiong Huang

doi:10.2147/NDT.S256278

Serum BDNF Levels are Not Associated with the Antidepressant Effects of Nonconvulsive Electrotherapy

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2020 Jun 22:16:1555-1560. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S256278. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Wei Zheng¹, Miao-Ling Jiang¹, Hong-Bo He¹, Ri-Peng Li¹, Qi-Long Li¹, Chun-Ping Zhang¹, Su-Miao Zhou¹, Su Yan¹, Yu-Ping Ning^{1

2}, Xiong Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital), Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
² The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Objective: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and in the antidepressant response. This study examined whether changes in serum BDNF levels are associated with the antidepressant effects of nonconvulsive electrotherapy (NET).

Methods: For BDNF analyses, serum samples were collected from 20 patients with treatment-refractory depression (TRD) and from 20 healthy controls. Serum samples were also collected from patients following a course of NET.

Results: Although significantly lower baseline serum BDNF levels were observed in TRD patients than in healthy controls, no changes in serum BDNF levels were found in TRD patients after a course of NET compared to baseline. No significant association was found between serum BDNF levels and depression severity.

Conclusion: Serum BDNF levels appear to have no clinical utility in the prediction of the antidepressant effects of NET in patients with TRD. Future studies of higher quality and with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; nonconvulsive electrotherapy; treatment-refractory depression.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (B2016109), the Science and Technology Plan Project of Guangdong Province (2019B030316001), and Guangzhou Clinical Characteristic Technology Project (67).