Centre for Psychiatric Research, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark.
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2010 Jun;13(5):563-72. doi: 10.1017/S1461145709990721. Epub 2009 Oct 2.
There is accumulating evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of depression. Decreased serum levels have been reported in major depression, and a correlation between BDNF reduction and the severity of the disease was found. Moreover, in post-mortem hippocampal tissue, increased levels of BDNF immunoreactivity have been reported in subjects treated with antidepressants compared to untreated subjects. These findings indicate parallel changes in brain and serum BDNF levels during depression. BDNF has been measured in selected brain areas in several animal models. In investigations between Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) and Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats, a genetic rat model of depression, no differences were found in BDNF levels in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, areas believed to be core brain regions in depression. However, to our knowledge brain and serum BDNF levels have never been reported in parallel for any psychiatric disease model. Therefore, we examined the levels of BDNF in whole blood, serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), hippocampus, and frontal cortex in male FSL and FRL rats. BDNF levels in serum and whole blood of FSL rats were significantly increased compared to FRL rats. In contrast, in the hippocampus the BDNF level was significantly decreased in FSL compared to FRL rats while no differences were found in the frontal cortex and CSF. The differential regulation of the BDNF levels in hippocampus, serum, and whole blood in FSL/FRL rats adds to the hypothesis that neurotrophic factors are related to the pathophysiology of depression.
越来越多的证据表明脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）在抑郁症的病理生理学中起着关键作用。在重度抑郁症患者中，发现血清 BDNF 水平降低，且 BDNF 降低与疾病严重程度之间存在相关性。此外，在死后海马组织中，与未治疗的受试者相比，接受抗抑郁药治疗的受试者的 BDNF 免疫反应性水平升高。这些发现表明在抑郁症期间大脑和血清 BDNF 水平平行变化。BDNF 已在几个动物模型的选定脑区进行了测量。在抑郁症的遗传大鼠模型弗林德斯敏感系（FSL）和弗林德斯抗性系（FRL）大鼠之间的研究中，在前额皮质和海马体中未发现 BDNF 水平存在差异，这两个区域被认为是抑郁症的核心脑区。然而，据我们所知，尚未在任何精神疾病模型中同时报告脑和血清 BDNF 水平。因此，我们检查了雄性 FSL 和 FRL 大鼠的全血、血清、脑脊液（CSF）、海马体和前额皮质中的 BDNF 水平。与 FRL 大鼠相比，FSL 大鼠的血清和全血中的 BDNF 水平显著增加。相比之下，FSL 大鼠的海马体中 BDNF 水平显著降低，而在额叶皮质和 CSF 中未发现差异。FSL/FRL 大鼠中海马体、血清和全血中 BDNF 水平的差异调节增加了神经营养因子与抑郁症病理生理学相关的假说。
