Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important neural growth factor, has gained growing interest in neuroscience, but many influencing physiological and analytical aspects still remain unclear. In this study we assessed the impact of storage time at room temperature, repeated freeze/thaw cycles, and storage at −80 °C up to 6 months on serum and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-plasma BDNF. Furthermore, we assessed correlations of serum and plasma BDNF concentrations in two independent sets of samples. Coefficients of variations (CVs) for serum BDNF concentrations were significantly lower than CVs of plasma concentrations (n = 245, p = 0.006). Mean serum and plasma concentrations at all analyzed time points remained within the acceptable change limit of the inter-assay precision as declared by the manufacturer. Serum and plasma BDNF concentrations correlated positively in both sets of samples and at all analyzed time points of the stability assessment (r = 0.455 to rs = 0.596; p < 0.004). In summary, when considering the acceptable change limit, BDNF was stable in serum and in EDTA-plasma up to 6 months. Due to a higher reliability, we suggest favoring serum over EDTA-plasma for future experiments assessing peripheral BDNF concentrations.
Highlights
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the best studied neural growth factors
We addressed two questions
Blood from participants was not collected on the same day, but within one month, leading to differences in storage time at −80 ◦C before baseline analysis. Such a logistic delay is typical for clinical studies and cannot always be excluded, and our results demonstrate that storage up to six months at −80 ◦C does not affect BDNF concentrations
Summary
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the best studied neural growth factors. Studies investigating BDNF lack reproducibility [3]. At least two distinct blood compartments for BDNF are known: (1) circulating BDNF in plasma, and (2) the platelet pool of BDNF. The latter is reflected by serum concentrations because BDNF is secreted into serum by activated platelets during blood clotting. Analysis of BDNF in both compartments may be of interest, because plasma BDNF concentrations reflect acute changes in humoral BDNF, and serum concentrations reflect the platelet pool of BDNF [2]
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