Department of Psychiatry, The Schizophrenia Clinic, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences , Bangalore , India ; Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Cognitive Neurobiology Division, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences , Bangalore , India.
Front Psychiatry. 2013 Jul 2;4:64. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00064. eCollection 2013.
Neurodevelopmental aberrations influenced by neurotrophic factors are among the important paradigms to understand schizophrenia pathogenesis. Among various neurotrophic factors, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is strongly implicated by previous research studies. Evaluating co-morbidity free, antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients for BDNF levels and examining the correlates of this factor with symptoms might facilitate elucidation of its pathogenetic role without confounds of potential influencing factors. In this study, 59 co-morbidity free, antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients were compared with 60 healthy controls for serum BDNF levels. In addition, the relationship between Schneiderian First Rank Symptoms (FRS) and BDNF level in patients was examined. As a group, schizophrenia patients (28.8 ± 11.7 ng/mL) had significantly lower serum BDNF than healthy controls (34.9 ± 8.2 ng/mL) after controlling for the potential confounding effects of age and sex (F = 7.8; p = 0.006). Further analyses revealed FRS status to have significant effect on plasma BDNF after controlling for the potential confounding effects of age and sex (F = 4.5; p = 0.01). Follow-up post hoc analyses revealed FRS(+) patients to have significant deficit in plasma BDNF level in comparison with healthy controls (p = 0.002); however, FRS(-) patients did not differ from healthy controls (p = 0.38). Our study observations add further support to the role for BDNF in schizophrenia pathogenesis and suggest a potential novel link between deficient BDNF and FRS.
受神经营养因子影响的神经发育异常是理解精神分裂症发病机制的重要范例之一。在各种神经营养因子中，脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）是先前研究强烈暗示的。评估无共病、抗精神病药初治的精神分裂症患者的 BDNF 水平，并检查该因素与症状的相关性，可能有助于在没有潜在影响因素混杂的情况下阐明其发病机制作用。在这项研究中，59 名无共病、抗精神病药初治的精神分裂症患者与 60 名健康对照者进行了血清 BDNF 水平比较。此外，还检查了患者的 Schneiderian 一级症状（FRS）与 BDNF 水平之间的关系。作为一个群体，精神分裂症患者（28.8±11.7ng/ml）的血清 BDNF 明显低于健康对照组（34.9±8.2ng/ml），在控制年龄和性别等潜在混杂因素的影响后（F=7.8；p=0.006）。进一步的分析显示，在控制年龄和性别等潜在混杂因素的影响后，FRS 状态对血浆 BDNF 有显著影响（F=4.5；p=0.01）。后续的事后分析显示，与健康对照组相比，FRS(+)患者的血浆 BDNF 水平显著降低（p=0.002）；然而，FRS(-)患者与健康对照组没有差异（p=0.38）。我们的研究观察结果进一步支持了 BDNF 在精神分裂症发病机制中的作用，并表明 BDNF 缺乏与 FRS 之间存在潜在的新联系。
