Energy balance
Peripheral administration of BDNF improves glucose metabolism and reduces body weight in hyperglycemic or diabetic rodent models, but its effects vary by tissue and species.
This paper suggests that while BDNF has beneficial metabolic effects in diabetic mice, these effects are not universal. In monkeys, peripheral BDNF can actually promote obesity. For humans, the relationship between serum BDNF and BMI is unclear, with some studies showing positive correlations and others negative. Therefore, simply increasing peripheral BDNF may not be a reliable weight loss strategy across all species.
Subcutaneous BDNF enhances glucose utilization in muscle and BAT of db/db mice... Subcutaneous injections of BDNF reduced body weight, fat pad weight, and liver weight in db/db mice... In monkeys, the response of peripheral TrkB activation is orexigenic and obesity promoting
Why this rating
Evidence is strong in specific diabetic mouse models but inconsistent in other species and human observational studies.
Source
The lighter side of BDNF
Emily E. Noble et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · 2011
DOI 10.1152/ajpregu.00776.2010
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