Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan.
Psychiatry Res. 2014 Feb 28;215(2):268-73. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2013.12.009. Epub 2013 Dec 14.
A meta-analysis study reported serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels as a potential biomarker for schizophrenia. However, at the time, commercially available human ELISA kits were unable to distinguish between pro-BDNF (precursor BDNF) and mature BDNF, because of limited antibody specificity. Here, we used new ELISA kits, to examine serum levels of mature BDNF and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which converts pro-BDNF to mature BDNF in schizophrenia. Sixty-three patients with chronic schizophrenia and 52 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Patients were evaluated using the Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and neuropsychological tests. Neither serum mature BDNF nor MMP-9 levels differed between patients and controls. In male subgroups, serum MMP-9 levels of smoking patients were higher than those of non-smoking patients, but this was not observed in male controls or the female subgroup. In patients, serum mature BDNF levels were associated with SANS total scores and the Information subtest scores of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R), while serum MMP-9 levels were associated with smoking and category fluency scores. These findings suggest that neither mature BDNF nor MMP-9 is a suitable biomarker for schizophrenia, although further studies using large samples are needed.
一项荟萃分析研究报告称，血清脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）水平可作为精神分裂症的潜在生物标志物。然而，当时，由于抗体特异性有限，商业上可获得的人 ELISA 试剂盒无法区分前体 BDNF（pro-BDNF）和成熟 BDNF。在这里，我们使用新的 ELISA 试剂盒，检测精神分裂症患者血清中成熟 BDNF 和基质金属蛋白酶-9（MMP-9）的水平，MMP-9 可将 pro-BDNF 转化为成熟 BDNF。纳入 63 例慢性精神分裂症患者和 52 名年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者。使用简明精神病评定量表、阴性症状评定量表（SANS）和神经心理学测试对患者进行评估。患者和对照组之间血清成熟 BDNF 和 MMP-9 水平均无差异。在男性亚组中，吸烟患者的血清 MMP-9 水平高于非吸烟患者，但在男性对照组或女性亚组中未观察到这种情况。在患者中，血清成熟 BDNF 水平与 SANS 总分和韦氏成人智力量表修订版（WAIS-R）的信息子测验分数相关，而血清 MMP-9 水平与吸烟和类别流畅性分数相关。这些发现表明，成熟 BDNF 和 MMP-9 都不是精神分裂症的合适生物标志物，尽管需要使用大样本进行进一步研究。
