7,8-Dihydroxyflavone
7,8-Dihydroxyflavone, a flavonoid. Small-molecule agonist at TrkB, the receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor — it mimics BDNF signalling directly rather than…
Small-molecule agonist at TrkB, the receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor — it mimics BDNF signalling directly rather than raising BDNF expression, which is what distinguishes it from the exercise-and-diet interventions usually invoked for the same pathway. Orally active and brain-penetrant in rodents, where it is the standard pharmacological probe for BDNF-implicated models of depression, Alzheimer's disease and hypoxic-ischaemic injury. Rapidly O-methylated; the methylated metabolite retains TrkB activity.
PubChem CID 1880 (C15H10O4). Sold as a supplement under the name tropoflavin; the dose range is vendor label practice with no trial behind it, recorded so a logged intake has a plausible scale rather than because it is established. Mechanism reference PMID:26740873 (TrkB agonist, BDNF-implicated disorders); the active O-methylated metabolite is PMID:23445871. A CYP/albumin interaction screen exists (PMID:31731555) and is the place to start if kinetic edges are ever authored — not done here, since the abstract reports binding studies rather than a Ki this catalog could carry.
Sources: PMID:26740873, PMID:39881861, PMID:29295929