Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Hippocampus. 2010 Sep;20(9):1010-7. doi: 10.1002/hipo.20699.
A functional polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene (Val66Met) has been associated with the risk for schizophrenia and volume differences in the hippocampus. However, little is known about the association between progressive brain volume change in schizophrenia and BDNF genotype. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between hippocampal volume change in patients with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects and BDNF genotype. Two structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scans were acquired of 68 patients with schizophrenia and 83 healthy subjects with an interval of approximately 5 yrs. Hippocampal volume change was measured and related to BDNF genotype in patients and healthy controls. BDNF genotype was not associated with hippocampal volume change over time in patients or healthy controls, nor could we replicate earlier findings on smaller hippocampal volume in Met-carriers. However, we did find a genotype-by-diagnosis interaction at baseline demonstrating smaller hippocampal volumes in patients homozygous for the Val-allele relative to healthy Val-homozygotes. In addition, irrespective of genotype, patients showed smaller hippocampal volumes compared with healthy controls at baseline. In summary, our results suggest that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is not associated with hippocampal volume change over time. Nevertheless, our findings may support the possibility that BDNF affects brain morphology differently in schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects.
脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）基因的功能性多态性（Val66Met）与精神分裂症的风险和海马体体积差异有关。然而，关于精神分裂症患者进行性脑体积变化与 BDNF 基因型之间的关系知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨精神分裂症患者和健康对照者海马体积变化与 BDNF 基因型之间的关系。对 68 名精神分裂症患者和 83 名健康对照者进行了大约 5 年的两次结构磁共振成像脑扫描。测量了海马体体积的变化，并将其与患者和健康对照组的 BDNF 基因型相关联。BDNF 基因型与患者或健康对照者的海马体体积随时间的变化无关，也无法复制先前关于 Met 携带者海马体体积较小的发现。然而，我们确实在基线时发现了基因型与诊断的相互作用，表明 Val 纯合子患者的海马体体积小于健康的 Val 纯合子。此外，无论基因型如何，患者在基线时的海马体体积均小于健康对照组。总之，我们的研究结果表明，BDNF Val66Met 多态性与随时间的海马体体积变化无关。然而，我们的发现可能支持 BDNF 在精神分裂症患者和健康受试者中对大脑形态的影响不同的可能性。
