Evidence of association between Val66Met polymorphism at BDNF gene and anxiety disorders in a community sample of children and adolescents

Abstract

Different lines of evidence support BDNF as a candidate gene in mood and anxiety modulation. More recently, the Met allele of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism has been implicated in anxiety in animal models and anxiety-traits in humans. The aim of this study is to evaluate the a priori hypothesis that the association between anxiety disorders and Val66Met polymorphism at the BDNF gene would be replicated in a community sample of children and adolescents. 240 subjects from a total sample of 2457 children and adolescents aged 10-17 years from the public schools in the catchment area of the primary care unit of a university hospital participated in this case-control study and were assessed for psychopathology using the K-SADS-PL. A sample of saliva was collected for DNA analysis of Val66Met polymorphism. BDNF was the single gene evaluated in this sample. We found a significant association between carrying one copy of the Met allele and higher chance of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. The association remained positive even after the adjustment for potential confounders (228 subjects; OR=3.53 (CI95% 1.77-7.06; p<0.001)). Our results support the a priori hypothesis of an association between anxiety and the polymorphism Val66Met. To our knowledge, this is the first study documenting a potential role of this polymorphism in a community sample of anxious children and adolescents.

Effect of variation in BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, smoking, and nicotine dependence on symptom severity of depressive and anxiety disorders

“…No association of BDNF Val 66 Met polymorphism has been found with anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder (Surtees et al, 2007), panic disorder (Lam et al, 2004;Otowa et al, 2009;Shimizu et al, 2005) and post-traumatic stress disorder except in one community sample of children and adolescents (Tocchetto et al, 2011).…”

Population difference in the association of BDNF promoter methylation with mild cognitive impairment in the Xinjiang Uygur and Han populations

“…Previous study has found a strong correlation between BDNF methylation and BDNF val66Met polymorphism, which was shown to be associated with a number of psychiatric disorders (Neves-Pereira et al, 2005;Tocchetto et al, 2011;Verhagen et al, 2010) including AD (Lim et al, 2014). A further analysis showed there was significant ethnic difference in the frequency distribution of BDNF val66Met polymorphism among Asians, Caucasians and Africans (Fst > 0.15, Supplemental Table 1).…”

Genetic Polymorphisms and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: a systematic review

“…29 BDNF is a candidate gene in anxiety modulation. 30 The subject may be described as highly controversial.…”

“…20 Finally, it should be noted that the Met allele of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism has been implicated in anxiety in animal models. 30 The circadian-clock-related genes BCL2 and DRD2 were investigated in an association analysis to test whether they predispose to human anxiety disorders.…”