title: Interaction of BDNF with cytokines in chronic schizophrenia.
abstract: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) interacts with cytokines. Although both BDNF and cytokines occur at abnormal levels in schizophrenia patients, their interactions have not yet been examined. We therefore compared serum BDNF, TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, and IL-8 levels in 92 chronically medicated schizophrenia patients and 60 healthy controls. We correlated these serum levels within these subject groups with each other and with clinical symptoms assessed according to the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Compared to the control group, the schizophrenia patients had significantly lower BDNF and TNF-α levels, and higher IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 levels. The patients also showed a significant positive correlation between BDNF and both IL-2 and IL-8 levels, and low BDNF and TNF-α levels together were associated with poor performance on the PANSS cognitive factor. Thus, an interaction between cytokines and neurotrophic factors may be implicated in the pathophysiology of chronic schizophrenia. In particular, the cytokine TNF-α may interact with BNDF causing cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: xiang.y.zhang@uth.tmc.edu.
authors.forename: Xiang Yang
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Long
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Da-Chun
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fu-De
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Hanjing Emily
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Giovana B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Zunta-Soares
authors.affiliation: Centre for Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, and Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Xu-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kosten
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jair C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Soares
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D016207:Cytokines; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: BDNF; Cognition; Cytokine; Interaction; Schizophrenia; Symptom