Monteleone P, Serritella C, Martiadis V, Maj M
Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Naples, Italy.
Bipolar Disord. 2008 Feb;10(1):95-100. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2008.00459.x.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been proposed as a candidate molecule in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorders (BD). Reduced levels of peripheral BDNF have been found in drug-free MDD patients, in drug-treated depressed or manic patients with BD type I (BD-I), but not in drug-treated euthymic BD-I individuals. No study has been done in patients with BD type II (BD-II). Moreover, the influence of Axis I psychiatric comorbidity on circulating BDNF in affective patients has never been evaluated. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed: (i) to confirm previous findings on peripheral BDNF in MDD and BD-I patients; (ii) to assess whether changes in circulating BDNF occur also in patients with BD-II; and (iii) to exclude the possibility that comorbid psychiatric disorders exerted an effect on BDNF levels in affective patients.
We measured serum BDNF concentrations by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method in 85 subjects, including 24 euthymic patients with unipolar depression (UD), 17 euthymic patients with BD-I, 11 euthymic patients with BD-II, 11 UD patients with a current major depressive episode and 22 drug-free healthy controls. At the time of the study, 15 patients were drug-treated; the remaining ones were drug-free for at least four weeks.
Compared to healthy controls, serum BDNF concentrations were significantly reduced in all the patient groups (F(4,80) = 3.840, p = 0.006) with no significant difference among them. Drug treatments and comorbid psychiatric disorders had no effect on lowered circulating BDNF levels in affective patients.
Present results confirm previous independent findings of reduced circulating BDNF in patients with MDD and report, for the first time, decreased serum BDNF levels in euthymic patients with UD, BD-I and BD-II, independently from drug treatment status and concomitant Axis I psychiatric disorders.
脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）被认为是重度抑郁症（MDD）和双相情感障碍（BD）病理生理学中的一个候选分子。在未服用药物的MDD患者、接受药物治疗的I型双相情感障碍（BD-I）抑郁或躁狂患者中，外周血BDNF水平降低，但在接受药物治疗的BD-I缓解期个体中未发现此现象。尚未有针对II型双相情感障碍（BD-II）患者的研究。此外，从未评估过轴I精神共病对情感障碍患者循环BDNF的影响。因此，在本研究中，我们旨在：（i）证实先前关于MDD和BD-I患者外周血BDNF的研究结果；（ii）评估BD-II患者循环BDNF是否也会发生变化；（iii）排除共病精神障碍对情感障碍患者BDNF水平产生影响的可能性。
我们采用酶联免疫吸附测定法测量了85名受试者的血清BDNF浓度，其中包括24名单相抑郁症（UD）缓解期患者、17名BD-I缓解期患者、11名BD-II缓解期患者、11名当前有重度抑郁发作的UD患者以及22名未服用药物的健康对照者。在研究时，15名患者正在接受药物治疗；其余患者至少四周未服用药物。
与健康对照者相比，所有患者组的血清BDNF浓度均显著降低（F(4,80) = 3.840，p = 0.006），但各患者组之间无显著差异。药物治疗和共病精神障碍对情感障碍患者降低的循环BDNF水平没有影响。
目前的结果证实了先前关于MDD患者循环BDNF降低的独立研究结果，并首次报告了UD、BD-I和BD-II缓解期患者血清BDNF水平降低，且与药物治疗状态和轴I共病精神障碍无关。
