Despite the small number of subjects and the inclusion of only female subjects, our results suggest that DNAm of 13 CpGs of the BDNF gene may be an appropriate biomarker for aging and useful for predicting increased susceptibility to age-related psychiatric disorders.
We also assessed the effect of BDNF overexpression in the NAc, behavioral changes of heroin-conditioned place preference (CPP), and naloxone withdrawal in rats with high levels of BDNF.
The precursor proBDNF is converted to mature BDNF and BDNF pro-peptide, the N-terminal fragment of proBDNF; however, the precise function of these proteins in psychiatric disorders is unknown.
Evidence suggests that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line -derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) are important in the regulation of synaptic plasticity, which plays a key role in the cognitive processes in psychiatric disorders.
BDNF gene therapy prevented the development of obesity and metabolic syndromes characterized by decreasing body weight and adiposity, suppressing food intake, alleviating hyperleptinemia and hyperinsulinemia, improving glucose and insulin tolerance, and increasing energy expenditure, without adverse cardiovascular function or behavioral disturbances.
In this Perspectives article, these new insights will be placed in the context of previously unresolved issues related to BDNF biology, as well as how BDNF may function as a downstream mediator of newer pharmacological agents currently under investigation for treating psychiatric disorders.
Microglial cells are able to respond to BDNF, which may be important for the regulation of inflammatory responses and may also be involved in the pathophysiology and/or the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Data are also scarce to assess the behavioral changes as a function of BDNF expression, but the downregulation of BDNF seems to be associated with increased anxiety-like symptoms.
Exposure of an organism to chronic psychosocial stress may affect brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression that has been implicated in the etiology of psychiatric disorders, such as depression.
While trophic factors are viewed as well-understood but not innovative molecules, there are many lines of evidence indicating that BDNF plays an important role in the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative disorders, depression, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders.
Numerous studies have reported associations between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and psychiatric disorders, including suicidal behavior, although with conflicting results.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is abundant in the hippocampus and plays critical roles in memory and synapse formation, as well as exerting antidepressant-like effects in psychiatric disorders.
In this review, we summarize data from current literature as well as from our own analysis with respect to the correlation of BDNF methylation changes with psychiatric disorders and address questions about whether DNA methylation related to the BDNF can be useful as biomarker for specific neuropsychiatric disorders.
Gene-by-environment studies investigating the impact of the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphisms by life events on mental health and behaviour problems have been inconclusive.
In this report, we review the relationships between psychiatric disorders and polySia and/or ST8SIA2, and describe a new function of polySia as a regulator of neurologically active molecules, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and dopamine, which are deeply involved in psychiatric disorders.
The Val66Met polymorphism of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with psychiatric disorders and regional gray matter volume (rGMV) in adults.
We will also discuss the potential use of peripheral BDNF as a biomarker for psychiatric disorders, focusing on the factors that can influence BDNF gene expression and protein levels.
Based on this initial analysis we suggest that rare variants and missense mutations in neurotrophin genes might represent genetic contributions involved across psychiatric disorders.
Several psychiatric disorders have been associated with CpG methylation changes in CG rich promoters of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mainly by extracting DNA from peripheral blood cells.