Effects of psychoplastogens on blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of human studies evaluating psychoplastogen administration.
PubMed 39613915 · doi:10.1038/s41380-024-02830-z
What was done
Authors conducted a pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO: CRD42022333096) across PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO evaluating the impact of psychoplastogens (including ketamine, esketamine, LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT, MDMA, scopolamine, and rapastinel) on peripheral blood BDNF levels in humans. Risk of bias was evaluated using Cochrane tools, and moderators (drug, dose, blood fraction, age, diagnosis, timepoint) were assessed using mixed-effects models and meta-regressions.
What was found
Across 29 included studies, psychoplastogen administration did not significantly elevate peripheral BDNF levels (SMD = 0.024, p = 0.64). The effect was not modified by drug type, dose, blood fraction, participant age, or psychiatric diagnoses. Studies with better-controlled designs and fewer missing values yielded smaller effect sizes, while later measurement timepoints showed minimally larger effects.
Why it matters
Peripheral BDNF is widely cited as a biomarker of rapid plasticity-promoting drug effects; these results suggest peripheral BDNF does not reliably capture psychoplastogen-induced neuroplasticity in humans.
Limits
The abstract highlights limitations regarding the reliability and validity of peripheral BDNF measurements and low variation among some moderator variables. Specific details regarding total participant count, individual study designs, and confidence intervals were not reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- context Psilocybin increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps increase brain connections and neuroplasticity.
- contradicts Peripheral BDNF levels can be detected in blood and are observed to increase after psychedelic use.