Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor downregulation in gastric cancer

Abstract

The brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a certain type of growth factor that participates in the correct construction of the brain. Moreover, some reports have shown its participation in the tumorigenesis process. A long noncoding RNA known as BDNF‐antisense (BDNF‐AS) is shown to be transcribed from the antisense direction of the BDNF gene and control its expression. In the current study, we compared expression levels of BDNF and its antisense in gastric cancer tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues (ANCTs) using quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Expression of both genes tended to decrease in gastric cancer tissues in comparison with ANCTs (expression ratio = 0.4 and P = .06 for BDNF; expression ratio = 0.35 and P = .05 for BDNF‐AS, respectively). Relative transcript levels of both genes were remarkably associated with the site of primary tumor in a way that all cardia tumors had low levels of both BDNF and BDNF‐AS in comparison with their paired ANCTs (P = .002 and P = <.001). We also found higher amounts of both genes in malignant samples obtained from older patients (P = .01 and P = .03 for BDNF and BDNF‐AS, respectively). Besides, BDNF expression was higher in tumors with lymphatic/vascular invasion (P = .01). There was also a trend toward upregulation of BDNF‐AS in tumors with lymphatic/vascular invasion (P = .05). The current study underscores the role of BDNF and BDNF‐AS in the pathogenic process leading to gastric cancer.

Brain derived neurotrophic factor declines after complete curative resection in gastrointestinal cancer

“…Interestingly, we found a significant postoperative reduction in BDNF in the PC subgroup with LNR > 0.17 (p = 0.043). Thus, postoperative reductions in BDNF concentrations most likely depended on lymph node status, as shown previously (Esfandi et al, 2019;Jiffar et al, 2017;Maehara et al, 2000).…”

“…Additionally, Okugawa et al (2013) observed elevated BDNF expression in primary tumours compared with the adjacent normal mucosa in patients with gastric cancer. On the other hand, Esfandi et al (2019) noted a tendency toward BDNF downregulation in gastric cancer tumour tissues. Interestingly, they found that BDNF levels were higher in tumours with lymphatic/vascular invasion, compared with tumours without lymphatic/vascular invasion, consistent with results presented previously (Jiffar et al, 2017;Maehara et al, 2000).…”

Dysregulation of long non‐coding RNAs and their mechanisms in Huntington's disease

“…Functionally, previous studies have confirmed that BDNF‐AS is involved in tumor diseases (e.g., esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, retinoblastoma, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer) as it inhibits cells proliferation, invasion, and migration by targeting BDNF or other molecules (Esfandi et al., 2019; Huang et al., 2018; Li, Dou, et al., 2018; Zhang, Liu, et al, 2018; Zhao et al., 2018). In the nervous system, inhibition of BDNF‐AS acting on autocrine products of BDNF may reduce neurotoxicity induced by ketamine through BDNF/TrkB signaling pathways (Zheng et al., 2016).…”

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in gastroenterology oncology – short review of current literature

“…A recent study by Esfandi et al admittedly revealed overexpression of BDNF in tumours with lymphatic and vascular invasion [31]. Authors investigated BDNF gene and BDNF-antisense (noncoding RNA) expression and noted that transcript level correlated with the site of primary tumoursit was lower in fundus and higher in body, antrum of stomach compared to normal tissues.…”