Study of Correlation Between Serum BDNF Levels and Pfirmann Grading and IL- 1β

September 2, 2026 updated by: Ji Hee Hong, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a protein belonging to the neurotrophin family, known to be involved in neuronal survival, growth, and synaptic plasticity. Recent studies suggest that the role of BDNF may extend beyond the central nervous system to include inflammatory responses and degenerative changes in peripheral tissues. In particular, BDNF expression has been confirmed within intervertebral disc tissue, with degenerated discs showing increased BDNF expression compared to normal discs, and this expression has been reported to increase further with the severity of degeneration Intervertebral disc degeneration is closely associated with intradiscal nerve ingrowth (neoinnervation) and the resulting generation of pain, and BDNF has been reported as a factor mediating this nerve ingrowth and pain sensitization (central/peripheral sensitization) within the disc. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), a representative inflammatory cytokine of disc degeneration, is known as a key mediator that promotes extracellular matrix degradation within disc tissue and induces neoinnervation and sensitization. Because BDNF secretion from neurons and immune cells has also been reported to increase in inflammatory environments, a potential interaction between IL-1β and BDNF has been proposed Accordingly, this study aims to measure serum BDNF concentrations in patients presenting with low back and leg pain due to disc degeneration or spinal stenosis, and to analyze whether these levels show a consistent correlation with Pfirrmann grading on MRI and serum IL-1β concentration.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

59

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

low back pain population with disc degeneration confirmed in MRI

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • lumbar disc herniation
  • lumbar spinal canal stenosis
  • patients who have MRI

Exclusion Criteria:

  • spine fracture
  • spine infection
  • spine tumor
  • rhematoid arthritis
  • ankylosing spondylitis
  • systemic lupus erythematosus
  • peripheral neuropathy
  • fibromyalgia
  • patient taking antidepressant, antipsychotics, acetylcholiesterase inhibitor

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
back pain patient group
Procedure: blood sampling for ELISA
blood sampling to detect the level of BDNF

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Idenfifying the correlation of BDNF level and Pfirmann grading
Time Frame: day 1
day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Idnetifying the correlation of BDNF level and IL-1β
Time Frame: day 1
day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2026-07-243

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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