title: Relationship between a BDNF gene polymorphism and the brain volume in treatment-naive patients with major depressive disorder: A VBM analysis of brain MRI.
abstract: The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) relates to basic neuronal functions, such as cell survival, axonal outgrowth, and dendritic growth. The Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene may affect genetic susceptibility to major depressive disorder (MDD). We prospectively investigated the relationship between the Val66Met BDNF genotype and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) findings for first episode and drug-naïve MDD patients and healthy subjects (HS). Participants comprised 38 MDD patients and 42 age- and sex-matched HS were divided into groups based on their BDNF genotype. The effects of diagnosis and genotype, as well as the genotype-diagnosis interaction, in relation to brain morphology were evaluated using a voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. Among the Met-carriers, the volume of the left middle frontal gyrus (composition of the prefrontal cortex [PFC]) was significantly smaller for MDD patients than for the HS, i.e., there was a significant genotype-diagnosis interaction effect on brain morphology noted in the left PFC. The BDNF polymorphism was associated with atrophy of the PFC in MDD patients, which suggests that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism may play an important role in the pathogenesis of early stages of MDD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan. Electronic address: s-ide@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ide
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kakeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Reiji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Issei
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Fujita Health University, School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Asuka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Wakako
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Umene-Nakano
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Fujita Health University, School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Nakao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Korogi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: Major depressive disorder; Prefrontal cortex; Val66Met polymorphism of BDNF gene; Voxel-based morphometry