Study on correlations of BDNF, PI3K, AKT and CREB levels with depressive emotion and impulsive behaviors in drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia

Abstract

Background The pathogenesis of schizophrenia is still unknown. Nearly a half of schizophrenic patients have depressive symptoms and even some impulsive behaviors. The definite diagnosis of schizophrenia is an immense challenge. Molecular biology plays an essential role in the research on the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Objective This study aims to analyze the correlations of serum protein factor levels with depressive emotion and impulsive behaviors in drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Methods Seventy drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia and sixty-nine healthy volunteers from the health check center in the same period participated in this study. In both the patient group and control group, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), phosphatidylin-ositol-3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), and cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) levels in the peripheral blood were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The depressive emotion and impulsive behaviors were evaluated with Chinese versions of the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (S-UPPS-P), respectively. Results The serum levels of BDNF, PI3K, and CREB in the patient group were lower than those in the control group, while AKT level, total CDSS score and total S-UPPS-P score were all higher. In the patient group, total CDSS score, and total S-UPPS-P score were both correlated negatively with BDNF, PI3K, and CREB levels but positively with AKT level, and the lack-of-premeditation (PR) sub-scale score was not significantly correlated with BDNF, PI3K, AKT, and CREB levels. Conclusion Our study results showed that the peripheral blood levels of BDNF, PI3K, AKT, and CREB in drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia were significantly different from those in the control group. The levels of these serum protein factors are promising biomarkers to predict schizophrenic depression and impulsive behaviors.

Mice with deficiency in Pcdh15, a gene associated with bipolar disorders, exhibit significantly elevated diurnal amplitudes of locomotion and body temperature

“…Subsequently, we evaluated the surface validity of this model. Our findings indicate that Pcdh15 -deletion mice display phenotypes consistent with those observed in analogous disease models [ 42 – 45 ] and patients [ 46 – 50 ]. Consequently, Pcdh15 -deletion mice appear to be a promising model for psychiatric disorders, satisfying both construct and face validity criteria.…”

Involvement of brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling in the pathogenesis of stress-related brain diseases

“…Furthermore, the disease relapse was associated with MAPK1 rs6928 and GSK3B rs6438552 polymorphisms ( Santos et al, 2023 ). Recently, with drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia, an examination on correlations of BDNF, CREB, PI3K, and Akt protein levels in the peripheral blood with depressive emotion/impulsive behaviors of schizophrenia has been investigated ( Li et al, 2023 ). Interestingly, the study results showed that levels of BDNF, CREB, and PI3K (not Akt) were correlated negatively with depressive emotion and impulsive behaviors ( Li et al, 2023 ).…”

The effects of BDNF rs6265 and FGF21 rs11665896 polymorphisms on alcohol use disorder-related impulsivity in Han Chinese adults

“…The most common BDNF single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in humans is at codon 66 (rs 6265), which can lead to a val-to-met (V66M) protein variant ( 18 ). Studies showed that BDNF is associated with impulsivity, and can be a biological marker for impulsive behavior ( 19 ). Findings regarding the BDNF rs6265 Met allele and impulsivity have been inconsistent.…”