Exercise-Induced Increase in Blood-Based Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Bdnf) in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Exercise Intervention Trials Publisher Pubmed



Shobeiri P^{1, 2, 3, 4} ; Karimi A¹ ; Momtazmanesh S^{1, 2, 4} ; Teixeira AL⁵ ; Teunissen CE⁶ ; Van Wegen EEH⁷ ; Hirsch MA⁸ ; Yekaninejad MS⁹ ; Rezaei N^{4, 10, 11} Show Affiliations
Source: PLoS ONE Published:2022

Abstract

Background Exercise training may affect the blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), but meta-analyses have not yet been performed comparing pre- and post-intervention BDNF concentrations in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Objective To perform a meta-analysis to study the influence of exercise on BDNF levels and define components that modulate them across clinical trials of exercise training in adults living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Method Five databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PEDro database, CINAHL) were searched up to June 2021. According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, we included 13 articles in the meta-analysis, including 271 subjects. To investigate sources of heterogeneity, subgroup analysis, meta-regression, and sensitivity analysis were conducted. We performed the meta-analysis to compare pre- and post-exercise peripheral levels of BDNF in PwMS. Results Post-exercise concentrations of serum BDNF were significantly higher than pre-intervention levels (Standardized Mean Difference (SMD): 0.33, 95% CI: [0.04; 0.61], p-value = 0.02). Meta-regression indicated that the quality of the included studies based on the PEDro assessment tool might be a source of heterogeneity, while no significant effect was found for chronological age and disease severity according to the expanded disability status scale. Conclusion This systematic review and meta-analysis shows that physical activity increases peripheral levels of BDNF in PwMS. More research on the effect of different modes of exercise on BDNF levels in PwMS is warranted. © 2022 Shobeiri et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.