Survey study, 2022
Does a brain chemical called BDNF predict mood changes in perimenopausal women with depression?
Yes. Women with perimenopausal depression who had higher BDNF levels had worse mood symptoms, which differs from typical depression patterns.
What they did
14 perimenopausal women aged 38-52 with regular menstrual cycles were measured at two points in their menstrual cycle (mid-to-late follicular phase and around menstruation) over 1-2 cycles. Researchers measured BDNF levels, mood symptoms using multiple rating scales, and inflammatory markers.
What they found
Higher BDNF levels were significantly linked to worse depression scores (p=0.0028), worse overall mood disturbance (p=0.0394), worse irritability (p=0.0067), and worse depression inventory scores (p=0.0231). Cycle phase did not affect this relationship.
What it means for you
This suggests perimenopausal depression may work differently than regular depression, where higher BDNF is usually protective. However, this is a very small study with only 14 women and many statistical comparisons, so results may not be reliable.
14
Women studied
49
Time points measured
0.0028
p-value for BDNF and depression link
About the study
- Original title
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor and mood in perimenopausal depression
- Authors
- Harder JA, Fichorova RN, Srivastava A et al.
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2022
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 14
- What was tested
- None - observational study
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.092
Topics
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