Laboratory of Neuroscience-LIM 27, Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Rua Dr. Ovidio Pires de Campos 785, São Paulo, Brazil.
World J Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Apr;11(3):550-5. doi: 10.3109/15622970903544620.
The aim of the present study is to investigate serum BDNF levels in older depressed patients as compared to healthy elderly controls.
Twenty-nine elderly subjects with major depression and 42 healthy older adults were enrolled to this study. All depressed patients were antidepressant-free for at least 1 month prior clinical and laboratorial assessments. Serum BDNF levels were determined by sandwich ELISA.
BDNF levels were lower in elderly depressed patients as compared to controls (P=0.034). Patients with late-onset depression had the lowest BDNF level (median 478.5, interquartile range 373.5-740.9 pg/l) when compared to early-onset depression (median 620.7, interquartile range 366.1-971.9 pg/l) and healthy controls (median 711.3, interquartile range 534.7-1181.0 pg/l) (P<0.03).
Reduced serum BDNF level may be a state marker of late-life depression in non-medicated elderly patients. Our findings provide further evidences that reduced neurotrophic support may have an important role in the physiopathology of late-life depression.
本研究旨在比较老年抑郁患者与健康老年对照者的血清脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）水平。
本研究纳入 29 例老年抑郁症患者和 42 例健康老年人。所有抑郁患者在临床和实验室评估前至少 1 个月未服用抗抑郁药。采用夹心 ELISA 法测定血清 BDNF 水平。
与对照组相比，老年抑郁症患者的 BDNF 水平较低（P=0.034）。与早发性抑郁症（中位数 620.7，四分位距 366.1-971.9 pg/l）和健康对照组（中位数 711.3，四分位距 534.7-1181.0 pg/l）相比，晚发性抑郁症患者的 BDNF 水平最低（中位数 478.5，四分位距 373.5-740.9 pg/l）（P<0.03）。
非药物治疗的老年患者血清 BDNF 水平降低可能是老年抑郁症的一种状态标志物。我们的发现进一步表明，神经营养支持减少可能在老年抑郁症的病理生理学中发挥重要作用。
