• Serum Brain‑Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in COVID‑19 Patients and its Association with the COVID‑19 Manifestations
  • Ali Asgarzadeh,1 Nasrin Fouladi,2 Elham Safarzadeh,3,*
    1. Students Research Committee, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
    2. School of Medicine and Allied Medical Sciences, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
    3. Department of Microbiology, Parasitology, and Immunology, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran


  • Introduction: COVID-19 is a systematic disease that frequently implies neurological and non-neurological manifestations, predominantly by inducing hypoxia. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a critical factor in regulating functions of the nervous and respiratory systems and has been strongly related to hypoxia. Therefore, this study planned to investigate BDNF association with COVID-19 manifestations primarily neurological impairments and infection-induced hypoxia.
  • Methods: We enrolled sixty-four COVID-19 patients and twenty-four healthy individuals in this study. Patients were divided into two groups, with and without neurological manifestations, and their serum BDNF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  • Results: COVID-19 patients had significantly lower BDNF levels than healthy individuals (p=0.023). BDNF levels were significantly lower in patients with neurological manifestations than in healthy individuals (p=0.010). However, we did not observe a statistically significant difference in BDNF levels between patients with and without neurological manifestations (p=0.175). BDNF levels were significantly lower in patients with CNS manifestations (p=0.039) and higher in patients with fever (p=0.03) and dyspnea (p=0.006). Secondly, BDNF levels negatively correlate with oxygen therapy requirements (p=0.015).
  • Conclusion: These results strongly suggest the critical association between dysregulated BDNF and hypoxia in promoting COVID-19 manifestations, particularly neurological impairments.
  • Keywords: COVID-19, BDNF, Neurological manifestations, Hypoxia, Dyspnea.