Depression, the Val66Met polymorphism, age, and gender influence the serum BDNF level

Neurotrophic factors in depression in response to treatment

“…The participants included in the study by Duncan et al (2009) were of different ancestry, increasing the risk of population stratification, and none of the individuals in the primary sample were depressed whereas all participants in our study were Caucasian of origin and depressed. In accordance with several other studies (Duncan et al, 2009;Yoshimura et al, 2011;Elfving et al, 2012) but in contrast to the study by Lang et al (2009), we did not find a significant association between BDNF serum levels and the Val66Met genotype.…”

“…This decrease was observed in individuals responding to treatment in addition to non-responders. Although not directly comparable, this is in harmony with our previous study (Elfving et al, 2012) showing a significantly higher serum BDNF level in depressed individuals compared to controls and is further supported by a recent metaanalysis showing no significant difference in BDNF concentrations among healthy controls and antidepressant treated depressed patients (Molendijk et al, 2014). Most studies have reported a significant increase in serum BDNF level after antidepressant treatment (Aydemir et al, 2005;Yoshimura et al, 2007Yoshimura et al, , 2014Hellweg et al, 2008;Matrisciano et al, 2009;Wolkowitz et al, 2011;Deuschle et al, 2013), and a few studies have reported a significant decrease (Hellweg et al, 2008;Deuschle et al, 2013).…”

“…A functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within BDNF (rs6265/Val66Met) has been investigated in numerous genetic studies of depression. Some studies have likewise investigated the association between rs6265 and serum BDNF levels in addition to the association between rs6265 and depression scores (Duncan et al, 2009;Lang et al, 2009;Verhagen et al, 2010;Yoshimura et al, 2011;Elfving et al, 2012). In general, the findings from these studies are varied and await further research.…”

The Role of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Comorbid Depression: Possible Linkage with Steroid Hormones, Cytokines, and Nutrition

“…A study investigating a non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of valine to methionine at codon 66 (Val66Met) in the BDNF gene revealed a significant association between Met carriers and PPD development when focusing on mothers whose delivery occurred during autumn/winter (51). It has been also reported that serum BDNF levels in male homozygous for Val and female Met carriers are higher than that in male Met carriers and female homozygous of Val (52). …”

[Letter to the Editor] Influence of Clotting Duration on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Dosage in Serum

“…Similar evidence also emerges from other meta-analyses on bipolar disorder (range: 13.4 0.91 to 42.5 12.5 ng/mL) (5) and anxiety disorders (range: 9.49 3.18 to 41.59 7.82 ng/mL) (6). In addition to nontechnical factors already known to affect serum BDNF levels, such as age, smoking, drinking, fasting, time of sampling, physical activity, and living in an urban environment (7, 8), this variability could be attributed to different methodological procedures for serum preparation and storage conditions. Indeed, the duration of serum storage, both at -20C and -80C, was demonstrated to be inversely correlated with measured BDNF levels, due to the progressive activity of proteolytic enzymes (9, 10).…”