title: Serial repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) decreases BDNF serum levels in healthy male volunteers.
abstract: Although repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is established in the treatment of depression, there is little knowledge about the underlying molecular mechanisms. In the last decade, the neurotrophic hypothesis of depression entailed a plethora of studies on the role of neurogenesis-associated factors in affective disorders and rTMS treatment. In the present study, we hypothesised a sham-controlled increase of peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels following serial rTMS stimulations in healthy individuals. We investigated the influence of a cycle of nine daily high-frequency (HF)-rTMS (25 Hz) stimulations over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on serum levels of BDNF in 44 young healthy male volunteers. BDNF serum concentrations were measured at baseline, on day 5 and on day 10. Overall, the statistical analyses showed that the active and sham group differed significantly regarding their responses of BDNF serum levels. Contrary to our expectations, there was a significant decrease of BDNF only during active treatment. Following the treatment period, significantly lower BDNF serum levels were quantified in the active group on day 10, when compared to the sham group. The participants' smoking status affected this effect. Our results suggest that serial HF-rTMS stimulations over the left DLPFC decrease serum BDNF levels in healthy male volunteers. This provides further evidence for an involvement of BDNF in clinical rTMS effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6-10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany, gerd.schaller@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schaller
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sperling
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Richter-Schmidinger
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mühle
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heberlein
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maihöfner
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kornhuber
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lenz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood; D013997:Time Factors; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor