title: Chronic depression is associated with a pronounced decrease in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor over time.
abstract: One of the leading neurobiological hypotheses on depression states that decreased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) contributes to depression. This is supported by consistent findings of low serum BDNF levels in depressed patients compared with non-depressed controls. Whereas it has been generally assumed that this is a state characteristic of depression, strong inferences about state or trait effects require a longitudinal study design. To investigate the longitudinal association between serum BDNF and depression, we measured serum BDNF, (current and past) depression status, use of antidepressants, and all potential covariates at baseline and after 2 years in 1751 individuals, consisting of patients with an incident (n=153), remitted (n=420) and persistent depression (n=310) and non-depressed controls (n=868). We analyzed change/differences in serum BDNF across these four groups with analyses of covariance adjusted for covariates and baseline BDNF value, together with the effects of starting and stopping antidepressant treatment. Our analyses revealed a significant difference for the depression course groups (P=0.007). Compared with non-depressed controls, persistently depressed and remitted patients had a steeper decrease of BDNF levels over time (-1.33 (P=0.001) and -0.97 ng ml(-1) (P=0.011), respectively), whereas BDNF reductions in patients with incident depression were similar to those in healthy controls. Initiation or discontinuation of antidepressants was not associated with BDNF change (P=0.72). These findings suggest that BDNF not only contributes to depression, but that depression in turn may also contribute to low BDNF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Nijmegen Centre for Evidence Based Practice (NCEBP) Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B A A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bus
authors.affiliation: Clinical, Health and Neuropsychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Molendijk
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychiatry, Nijmegen Centre for Evidence Based Practice (NCEBP) Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands [2] Faculty of Medicine and LVR Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany [3] Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Neuroscience, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tendolkar
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychiatry and EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [2] Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands [3] Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B W J H
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Penninx
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prickaerts
authors.affiliation: Clinical, Health and Neuropsychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Elzinga
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychiatry, Nijmegen Centre for Evidence Based Practice (NCEBP) Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands [2] Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R C O
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Voshaar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor