BDNF and major depressive disorder: For instance, the activation of NF-κB has been linked to neuroprotective and neurodegenerative actions (Mincheva-Tasheva et al., 2013; Capece et al., 2022) and it might be related to the decreased risk of depression through the upregulation of BDNF, but NF-κB is also related to increased neuroinflammation, a risk factor for depression (Roy et al., 2023).