Association between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and generalized anxiety disorder and clinical characteristics in a Mexican population

Abstract

The aim of the present case–control study was to explore the association between BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) polymorphism and generalized anxiety disorder in Mexican individuals, and whether this polymorphism plays a role in the symptomatology of anxiety.A total of 212 subjects were included in the study. Around 75 patients with generalized anxiety disorder were diagnosed by psychiatrists based on the DSM-IV instrument and 137 unrelated subjects psychiatrically healthy were used as comparison group. The subclinical symptomatology in patients was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. BDNF rs6265 genotypes were analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction end-point method.The association between BDNF Val66Met with the risk for generalized anxiety disorder was evaluated using 4 inheritance models. The present study showed that carrying the Met allele confers increased risk for the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (χ2 = 4.7, P = .03; OR (95%) 1.96 (1.05–3.56)) when patients with generalized anxiety disorder were compared with the comparison group.Our results provide evidence of an association between the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene and generalized anxiety disorder in a Mexican population. However, no association was observed between this polymorphism and the symptomatology of anxiety.

DRD2 and BDNF polymorphisms are associated with binge eating disorder in patients with weight regain after bariatric surgery

“…The literature evaluating the combination of these polymorphisms and BED is scarce. However, given the data obtained in this study, a possible synergism could occur between these genetic variants potentiating the predisposition to develop BED disorders [30,40,44,45].…”

Does the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Polymorphism Modulate the Effects of Physical Activity and Exercise on Cognition?

“…Besides its moderating effects on brain plasticity and cognition, some recent studies have associated Val66Met with the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric diseases, for example, bipolar disorder (Neves-Pereira and others 2002; Sklar and others 2002), suicidal behavior (Gonzalez-Castro and others 2017), and anxiety disorder (Gonzalez-Castro and others 2019). However, it should be noted that in most of these studies, associations between the presence of the Met allele and increased susceptibility to developing these conditions were significant only in subgroups of participants (Tsai 2018).…”

Single nucleotide polymorphism of BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) and its association to neuropsychiatric disorders

“…Concurring with the finding, a study on 480 individuals from various ethnicities (American Caucasians, African Americans, and American Indians) showed that the Met allele was found in most of the individuals with anxiety disorder, suggesting that it may serve as a risk allele for the development of the disorder (Jiang et al, 2005). There are also studies reporting a significant association between carriers of the Met allele and an elevated risk of anxiety disorders in the Brazilian (Tocchetto et al, 2011) and Mexican populations (González-Castro et al, 2019). Contrary to the findings, no significant difference was obtained when the alleles and genotypes of BDNF rs6265 were compared between patients with generalized social anxiety disorders and healthy controls (Park et al, 2011).…”