Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and inflammatory markers: Perspectives for the management of depression

Mood disorders, including major depressive disorder, are among the main causes of disability and early mortality and constitute an important public health problem. Despite the search for a neurobiological explanation for these disorders, diagnosis and treatment are still based on subjective symptoms and psychometric assessments. Biomarkers, used as indicators of normal biological and pathological processes or pharmacological responses to a clinical intervention, may be useful in improving the current classification of psychiatric disorders, which can help understand the role of biological information in diagnosis, prognosis, and assessment of responses to intervention.

This review aims to analyze the existing literature on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and inflammatory markers related to depression and to assess the advances and perspectives of their applicability in the diagnosis, prognosis, and assessment of responses to intervention in order to understand the importance of these biomarkers for the management of depression.

Evidence shows that BDNF is an important biomarker for the pathogenesis of depression; reduced levels are linked to reduced synaptic plasticity and neuronal atrophy, while elevated levels are associated with survival and neuronal differentiation, which is compatible with the neurogenic hypothesis of depression. Although the use of this biomarker is not yet established, literature shows that the concentration of BDNF is a useful measure for the differentiation between healthy and depressed individuals. Based on the inflammatory theory of depression, studies have found higher levels of inflammation in depressed individuals when compared to healthy ones, as well as an association between chronic inflammation and depressive symptoms. Studies have also found anti-inflammatory agents with anti-depressant effects. Markers such as IL-6, IL-1β, TNFα, and C-reactive protein (CRP) are potential markers of depression, but the role of cytokines in human brain activity is still insufficiently established.

Despite the large number of potential biological markers not yet fully established in the pathophysiology of depression, which is a challenge for psychobiology, it is clear that the concentrations of these substances are altered in psychiatric diagnoses related to the disease activity. Thus, although more research is needed, the current body of knowledge on biomarkers allows us to predict their use in the management of depression.