Abstract
The relationship between depression and the Val66Met polymorphism at the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF), has been largely studied. It has also been related to physical activity, although the results remain inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between this polymorphism, depression and physical activity in a thoroughly characterised sample of community-based individuals from the PISMA-ep study. A total of 3123 participants from the PISMA-ep study were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, of which 209 had depression. Our results are in line with previous studies reporting a protective effect of physical activity on depression, specifically in light intensity. Interestingly, we report a gene-environment interaction effect in which Met allele carriers of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism who reported more hours of physical activity showed a decreased prevalence of depression. This effect was observed in the total sample (OR = 0.95, 95%CI = 0.90–0.99, p = 0.027) and was strengthened in women (OR = 0.93, 95%CI = 0.87–0.98, p = 0.019). These results highlight the potential role of physical activity as a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing and adjuvant treatment of depression and suggest molecular and genetic particularities of depression between sexes.
Highlights
Depression is a major public health problem, affecting more than 264 million people worldwide, with a higher prevalence in women
Given the inconclusive results shown in the literature, we aim to investigate the involvement of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism with depression and physical activity in a large sample of community-dwelling adults
We found a statistically significant protective effect against depression in those participants reporting any physical activity, which remained significant after adjusting for covariates, both in the total sample (OR = 0.69, 95%confidence interval (CI) = 0.51–0.92, p = 0.011)
Summary
Depression is a major public health problem, affecting more than 264 million people worldwide, with a higher prevalence in women. It is a leading cause of disease burden and years of disability [1,2], and is associated with excess mortality [3]. Even though novel pharmacological choices have arisen in the past decades, there still remains a lack of efficiency in pharmacological treatment. The use of antidepressants has prompted a long-standing debate regarding their effectiveness compared to placebo [5,6]. In an extensive metaanalysis of published and unpublished clinical trials, a small drug-placebo difference directly related to the initial severity of depression was reported [7]
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