title: BDNF serum levels in subjects developing or not post-traumatic stress disorder after trauma exposure.
abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a syndrome resulting from exposure to a severe traumatic event that poses threatened death or injury and produces intense fear and helplessness. The neural structures implicated in PTSD development belong to the limbic system, an important region for emotional processing. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that serves as survival factor for selected populations of central nervous system (CNS) neurons and plays a role in the limbic system by regulating synaptic plasticity, memory processes and behavior. Impaired BDNF production in the brain can lead to a variety of CNS dysfunctions including symptoms associated with PTSD. However, so far fewer studies have investigated this neurotrophin in patients with PTSD. Furthermore, given the multiple role of BDNF in various CNS disorders, it cannot be excluded that traumatic events per se may influence neurotrophin levels, without a direct association to the PTSD syndrome. To elucidate these issues, in this study we analyzed BDNF serum levels in two groups of subjects: patients with trauma exposure who developed PTSD, and subjects with trauma exposure who did not develop PTSD. We found that BDNF serum levels were lower in PTSD patients as compared to related control subjects. Thus, these data suggest that BDNF might be involved in pathophysiology of PTSD and consequently therapeutic approaches aimed at restoring BDNF serum levels may be beneficial to this pathology.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, 00179 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: f.angelucci@hsantalucia.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Angelucci
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gelfo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G.d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martinotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G.d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brunetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G.d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sepede
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Signorelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aguglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Catholic University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pettorruso
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G.d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vellante
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G.d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Giannantonio
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000097:blood*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
keywords: BDNF; ELISA; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Trauma exposure