title: Serum levels of BDNF are associated with craving in opiate-dependent patients.
abstract: Preclinical study results suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) are involved in the modulation of addictive behaviour. We investigated alterations in serum levels of BDNF and GDNF in opiate-dependent patients (28 males) who received diacetylmorphine treatment within a structured opiate maintenance programme. BDNF (T = 2.735, p = 0.009) serum levels were significantly increased in the opiate-dependent patients as compared with healthy controls (21 males), whereas GDNF serum levels (T = 1.425, p = 0.162) did not differ significantly from GDNF serum levels of the healthy controls. BDNF serum levels were significantly associated with craving for heroin (measured by the Heroin Craving Questionnaire (r = 0.420, p = 0.029) and by the General Craving Scale (r = 0.457, p = 0.016), whereas GDNF serum levels were not associated with psychometric dimensions of heroin craving. In conclusion, our results show a positive association between BDNF serum levels and opiate craving in opiate-dependent patients.
authors: Center for Addiction Research, Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. heberlein.annemarie@mh-hannover.de
authors: Annemarie
authors: A
authors: Heberlein
authors: Kenneth M
authors: KM
authors: Dürsteler-MacFarland
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Lenz
authors: Helge
authors: H
authors: Frieling
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Grösch
authors: Dominikus
authors: D
authors: Bönsch
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Kornhuber
authors: Gerhard A
authors: GA
authors: Wiesbeck
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Bleich
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Hillemacher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood; D003932:Heroin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D003932:Heroin