title: A method for reproducible measurements of serum BDNF: comparison of the performance of six commercial assays.
abstract: Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) has attracted increasing interest as potential biomarker to support the diagnosis or monitor the efficacy of therapies in brain disorders. Circulating BDNF can be measured in serum, plasma or whole blood. However, the use of BDNF as biomarker is limited by the poor reproducibility of results, likely due to the variety of methods used for sample collection and BDNF analysis. To overcome these limitations, using sera from 40 healthy adults, we compared the performance of five ELISA kits (Aviscera-Bioscience, Biosensis, Millipore-ChemiKine(TM), Promega-Emax(®), R&D-System-Quantikine(®)) and one multiplexing assay (Millipore-Milliplex(®)). All kits showed 100% sample recovery and comparable range. However, they exhibited very different inter-assay variations from 5% to 20%. Inter-assay variations were higher than those declared by the manufacturers with only one exception which also had the best overall performance. Dot-blot analysis revealed that two kits selectively recognize mature BDNF, while the others reacted with both pro-BDNF and mature BDNF. In conclusion, we identified two assays to obtain reliable measurements of human serum BDNF, suitable for future clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polacchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Metelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Ruggiero
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Francavilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baj
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Trieste University Hospital, 34142 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Florean
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Trieste University Hospital, 34142 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca Giovanni
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Mascaretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tongiorgi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic