Although the Val66Met polymorphism at the BDNF gene does not seem to play a significant role in children and adolescents with BD or ADHD, BDNF serum levels deserve further attention in future research on neurobiological aspects of BD and ADHD.
We performed both total sample and sex stratified analyses to investigate the effect of Val66Met genotype on the plasma BDNF levels, but only a trend of association was found in females with ADHD (n=84), with a tendency of lower plasma BDNF level in Val allele carriers than Met/Met genotype carriers (P=0.071).
We aimed to determine whether early parenting is associated with externalizing and internalizing symptoms in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and whether such an association is affected by the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) val66met polymorphism.
The common Val66Met functional polymorphism in the human BDNF gene (rs 6265) was genotyped in a collaborative family-based sample of 341 white UK or Irish ADHD probands and their parents.