Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Concentration Levels in Cerebrospinal Fluid and Plasma in Patients With Glioblastoma: A Prospective, Observational, Controlled Study

Abstract

Objective Glioblastomas (GBMs) are among the most frequent and most malignant of untreatable brain tumors. A GBM marker could accelerate diagnosis and facilitate therapeutic monitoring. This prospective, observational, controlled study compared brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma between patients with GBM and a control group. Materials and methods Patients in the observational group underwent elective GBM resection (n=24, 55.8%). Control patients (n=19, 44.2%) had elective brain surgery for an unrelated, non-neoplastic, non-traumatic pathology. We measured BDNF levels in tumors, CSF, and plasma with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Peripheral blood and CSF samples were collected before surgery, and tumors were sampled intraoperatively. We analyzed correlations between BDNF levels and patient sex, age, seizures, smoking, diabetes mellitus (DM), and the use of selected antiepileptic drug (AED) and antihypertensive drug groups. Results The mean CSF BDNF concentration was significantly lower in patients with GBM (6.5 pg/mL) than in controls (11.48 pg/mL) (p=0.002). Similarly, the mean plasma BDNF concentration was significantly lower in patients with GBM (288.59 pg/mL) than in controls (574.06 pg/mL) (p=0.0005). None of the examined factors influenced CSF, plasma, or tumor tissue BDNF concentrations (p>0.05). Conclusion Plasma and CSF BDNF levels were significantly lower in adults with GBM than in controls. Thus, CSF and plasma BDNF levels may aid in GBM diagnoses. Further prospective studies are required.

The contribution of the nervous system in the cancer progression

“…Increased expression of BDNF has been observed in multiple cancers such as breast cancer ( 22 ), glioblastoma ( 23 ), and neuroblastoma ( 7 ), and its expression is associated with poor prognosis ( 11 , 24 ). Similar to NGF, BDNF can activate pathways that increase cell survival and proliferation through TrkB receptor by activating a series of downstream pathways including phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phospholipase C-γ (PLCγ), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).…”

Exercise intervention may play a potential therapeutic role in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (Review)

“…It was previously demonstrated that 1-week wheel-running intervention increased the global acetylation of histone 3 in the hippocampus of mice, thereby, increasing the transcription of BDNF (60). Recent studies have demonstrated that patients with GBM exhibited reduced levels of BDNF in both their plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, potentially being associated with cognitive decline in GBM (61,62). Although several studies have shown that the adjuvant therapeutic role of exercise functions through epigenetic modification in patients with cancer (54), no studies to date have examined the therapeutic effect of exercise on epigenetic modification in patients with GBM, at least to the best of our knowledge.…”