Abstract
Serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are low in major depressive disorder (MDD), and were recently shown to decrease in chronic depression, but whether this is a trait or state marker of MDD remains unclear. We investigated whether serum BDNF levels decrease before or after the developments of MDD and other mood disorders through a case–control study nested in a cohort of 1276 women aged 75–84 years in 2008. Psychiatrists using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV identified incident cases of mood disorders at follow-up surveys in 2010 and 2012: 28 of MDDs, 39 of minor depressive disorders (minDDs) and 8 of minor depressive episodes with a history of major depressive episodes (minDEs with MDE history). A total of 106 representative non-depressed controls were also identified in the 2012 follow-up. We assayed BDNF levels in preserved sera of cases and controls at baseline and at follow-up. Serum BDNF levels at baseline in cases of MDD, minDD or minDE with MDE history were no lower than those in controls. The decrease in the serum BDNF level from baseline to follow-up was greater in cases of MDD or minDE with MDE history than in controls or cases of minDD. These results show that serum BDNF levels are not a trait marker of MDD in old women but appeared to be a state marker. The different changes in BDNF levels among diagnostic groups suggest that MDD has a pathophysiologic relation to minDE with MDE history, rather than to minDD.
Highlights
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has critical roles in neural proliferation, growth and survival, and in most aspects of neural circuit function.[1]
Incident cases were combined into three diagnostic groups: a scored 6 or fewer points on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) were judged to not have any mood disorder, except for those who were judged to be in remission or partial remission of a mood disorder
Using incident cases and controls from a cohort in a 4-year observation, we found that serum BDNF levels at baseline were not lower in groups of major depressive disorder (MDD), minor depressive disorders (minDDs) or minDE with major depressive episode (MDE) history than in controls
Summary
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has critical roles in neural proliferation, growth and survival, and in most aspects of neural circuit function.[1] It is prevalent in the limbic region and prefrontal cortex, which are key areas related to mood. Postmortem studies have shown that cerebral BDNF is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD)[2,3,4] and may be decreased in patients with depression. BDNF is peripherally abundant, and its serum levels are low in patients with MDD5,6 but can be increased with antidepressant therapy.[6,7,8] BDNF is a possible biomarker of MDD. Before clinical studies of BDNF, animal studies showed that
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