Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with neuronal growth and reduced BDNF has been implicated in depression. A recent meta-analysis documented reliable effects of exercise on BDNF levels (Szuhany et al., 2015); although, few studies included participants with mental health conditions. In this study, we examine whether increased exercise was associated with enhanced BDNF response in depressed patients, and whether this change mediated clinical benefits. A total of 29 depressed, sedentary participants were randomized to receive either behavioral activation (BA) plus an exercise or stretching prescription. Blood was collected prior to (resting BDNF levels) and following an exercise test (pre-to post-exercise BDNF change) at four points throughout the study. Participants also completed depression and exercise assessments. BDNF increased significantly across all assessment points (p < 0.001, d = 0.83). Changes in BDNF from pre-to post-exercise were at a moderate effect for the interaction of exercise and time which did not reach significance (p = 0.13, d = 0.53), with a similar moderate, non-significant effect for resting BDNF levels (p = 0.20, d = 0.49). Contrary to hypotheses, change in resting BDNF or endpoint change in BDNF was not associated with changes in depression. In an intervention that included active treatment (BA), we could not verify an independent predictive effect for changes in BDNF across the trial. Overall, this study adds to the literature showing reliable effects of acute exercise on increasing BDNF and extends this research to the infrequently studied depressed population, but does not clarify the mechanism behind exercise benefits for depression. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY (CLINICALTRIALS.GOV): NCT02176408, "Efficacy of Adjunctive Exercise for the Behavioral Treatment of Major Depression".

中文翻译：

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评估 BDNF 作为运动对抑郁症影响的中介。

脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF) 与神经元生长有关，减少的 BDNF 与抑郁症有关。最近的一项荟萃​​分析记录了运动对 BDNF 水平的可靠影响（Szuhany 等，2015）；不过，很少有研究包括有心理健康问题的参与者。在这项研究中，我们检查了增加运动是否与抑郁症患者的 BDNF 反应增强有关，以及这种变化是否介导了临床益处。共有 29 名抑郁、久坐的参与者被随机分配接受行为激活 (BA) 加运动或拉伸处方。在整个研究的四个点在运动测试之前（静息 BDNF 水平）和运动测试之后（运动前到运动后 BDNF 变化）收集血液。参与者还完成了抑郁和运动评估。BDNF 在所有评估点均显着增加（p < 0.001，d = 0.83）。从运动前到运动后 BDNF 的变化对运动和时间的相互作用有中等影响，但没有达到显着性（p = 0.13，d = 0.53），对静息 BDNF 水平有类似的中等、非显着影响（p = 0.20，d = 0.49）。与假设相反，静息 BDNF 的变化或 BDNF 的终点变化与抑郁症的变化无关。在包括积极治疗 (BA) 的干预中，我们无法验证整个试验中 BDNF 变化的独立预测效果。总体而言，这项研究增加了文献显示急性运动对增加 BDNF 的可靠影响，并将这项研究扩展到不经常研究的抑郁人群，但并未阐明运动对抑郁症有益的机制。临床试验登记处 (CLINICALTRIALS.GOV)：NCT02176408，“辅助锻炼对重度抑郁症行为治疗的疗效”。