title: BDNF and GDNF serum levels in alcohol-dependent patients during withdrawal.
abstract: Preclinical study results suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) modulate addictive behaviour. Therefore we investigated alterations in BDNF (81 male patients) and GDNF serum levels (52 male patients) in alcohol-dependent patients during alcohol withdrawal (day 1, 7 and 14) in comparison to healthy controls (41 male controls). BDNF serum levels were not significantly altered in alcohol-dependent patients compared to healthy controls (p=0.685). GDNF serum levels were significantly reduced in the alcohol-dependent patients (p<0.001). BDNF (p=0.265) and GDNF (p=0.255) serum levels did not change significantly during alcohol withdrawal. BDNF serum levels were significantly negatively associated with alcohol withdrawal severity on day 1 (CIWA-Ar score, p=0.004). GDNF serum levels were significantly negatively associated with individual estimation of alcohol tolerance (SESA-XT score, p=0.028). There was no further association with psychometric dimensions of alcohol withdrawal. In conclusion we found that GDNF serum levels are significantly reduced in alcohol-dependent patients. GDNF serum levels were negatively associated with alcohol tolerance. Moreover BDNF serum levels were found to be associated with withdrawal severity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Hannover Medical School, Center for Addiction Research, Germany. heberlein.annemarie@mh-hannover.de
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heberlein
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muschler
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frieling
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gröschl
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kornhuber
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bleich
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hillemacher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D013695:Temperance
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor