Associations between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Plasma Levels and Severity of the Illness, Recurrence and Symptoms in Depressed Patients

Abstract

Background: There is increasing evidence that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the pathophysiology of mood disorders and that its peripheral levels represent a reliable mirror of its concentration in the brain. The aim of the present study was to measure BDNF plasma levels in patients affected by major depression and to explore the possible relationship between the biological parameter and characteristics of the illness. Method: BDNF plasma levels were evaluated in 30 inpatients suffering from major depression, according to DSM-IV criteria, by means of a commonly employed ELISA method. The clinical characteristics were assessed by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and the Clinical Global Impression Scale. Results: BDNF plasma levels were significantly lower in the patients with the severest illness compared with the others, and the same was true for patients with dissociative symptoms, severe sleep disturbance and recurrent depression. A significant and negative correlation was observed between the biological parameter and the retardation factor score of the HRSD. Conclusion: These findings suggest that low BDNF levels are related to both recurrence and severity of depression, as well as to symptoms typical of dysfunctions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Fast BDNF serum level increase and diurnal BDNF oscillations are associated with therapeutic response after partial sleep deprivation

“…3B), which was clearly less pronounced compared to responders. In agreement with other findings using different antidepressive treatment approaches (Dell'Osso et al, 2010;Okamoto et al, 2008) we could show a significant correlation of HDRS-6 improvement with increased post-PSD serum BDNF levels at 8 am (t5) in all patients after 2 weeks (r p ¼ À0.612; p ¼ 0.0025) (Fig. 3C).…”

BDNF, interleukin-6, and salivary cortisol levels in depressed patients treated with desvenlafaxine

“…Further, no significant relationships were observed between any of the potential biomarkers and disease severity, based on HAM-D 17 or SDS scores. This finding is notable, given that such relationships have previously been reported in published studies of BDNF (Dell'Osso et al, 2010) and IL-6 (Bob et al, 2010), and a significant correlation between salivary cortisol levels and cognitive impairment in MDD patients has been observed (Hinkelmann et al, 2009). Not all analyses support definitive relationships between BDNF or IL-6 and depression, however (Gass and Hellweg, 2010).…”

“…The neurotrophin BDNF plays a role in brain development and neuroplasticity, and has also been implicated in mediating treatment response in MDD (Castren and Rantamaki, 2010). Lower BDNF levels in patients with MDD compared with healthy controls have been reported (Bocchio-Chiavetto et al, 2010), and some studies, but not all (Jevtovic et al, 2011), have found an association between BDNF levels and severity of symptoms in untreated depressed patients (Dell'Osso et al, 2010). Levels of BDNF are reported to increase during treatment of depression (Hu et al, 2010;Matrisciano et al, 2009).…”

Plasma BDNF Level in Major Depression: Biomarker of the Val66Met BDNF Polymorphism and of the Clinical Course in Met Carrier Patients

“…However, its functionality has not been assessed yet in depressed patients except in 2 negative studies performed in Asian patients [5,6], probably because there is no method to assess brain BDNF concentrations in vivo. Nonetheless, some data show that depressed patients have lower plasma BDNF levels than controls [7], suggesting that plasma BDNF may be a proxy of central BDNF in humans [8] and could be associated with the clinical characteristics of MDD [9]. Since the Met frequency of the Val66Met polymorphism is lower in Caucasian than in Asian individuals [10], and ethnicity may interfere with the impact of the Val66Met polymorphism in depressed patients [11], a different effect of the Val66Met polymorphism may exist in Caucasian as compared to Asian patients with MDD.…”