No abstract

without PTSD, 3650.6 Ϯ 1648.2 pg/mL; controls, 6172.9 Ϯ 3899.3 pg/mL. Kruskal-Wallis test indicated significant difference (c 2 = 17.20, d.f. = 3, P < 0.001); post-hoc planned Mann-Whitney test indicated lower BDNF for subjects with full-blown or no PTSD than subjects with partial PTSD (Z = 3.51, P < 0.0005 and Z = 3.10, P < 0.005) and controls (Z = 2.56, P < 0.01 and Z = 2.29, P < 0.05) and no difference between partial PTSD and controls.Reduced BDNF in full PTSD is in agreement with Dell'Osso et al. 1 The BDNF finding in patients with partial PTSD is in line with Bonne et al., who found no difference between patients with moderate PTSD severity and controls.2 Hauck et al. reported that BDNF was elevated in subjects at early stages of trauma showing less severe symptoms.3 Together with the current finding that patients with partial PTSD had higher BDNF levels, we can hypothesize that the higher plasma level of BDNF would somehow have a neuroprotective role against the expression of full PTSD.The sample size was relatively small, but all patients were triggered by a unique trauma, had a similar low drug dosage and none presented comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. releasing factor, interleukin-6, brain derived neurotrophic factor, insulin-like growth factor-1, and substance P in the cerebrospinal fluid of civilians with posttraumatic stress disorder before and after treatment with paroxetine.