title: High levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor are associated with treatment adherence among crack-cocaine users.
abstract: Due to the complexity of crack -cocaine addiction treatment, the identification of biological markers that could help determining the impact or outcome of drug use has become a major subject of study. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the association of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) levels in crack -cocaine users with treatment adherence and with drug addiction severity. A sample of 47 male inpatient crack- cocaine users were recruited in a treatment unit, and blood samples were collected at admission and discharge in order to measure BDNF and TBARS serum levels. Subjects were split into 2 groups: treatment non-completers (n=23) and treatment completers (n=24). The completer group had a tendency of higher levels of BDNF than non-completers at admission (16.85±3.24 vs. 14.65±5.45, p=0.10), and significant higher levels at discharge (18.10±4.88 vs. 13.91±4.77, p=0.001). A negative correlation between BDNF levels at admission and years of crack use was observed. We did not find significant changes in TBARS levels during inpatient treatment, although the completer group tended to decrease these levels while non-completers tend to increase it. These findings suggest an association between higher levels of BDNF and better clinical outcomes in crack- cocaine users after detoxification. We believe that the variation in BDNF and TBARS found here add evidence to literature data that propose that such biomarkers could be used to better understand the physiopathology of crack- cocaine addiction.
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address: juliananscherer@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Juliana N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schuch
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ornell
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anne O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Sordi
authors.affiliation: Bipolar Disorders Program & INCT Translational Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas: Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giovana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bristot
authors.affiliation: Bipolar Disorders Program & INCT Translational Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas: Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pfaffenseller
authors.affiliation: Bipolar Disorders Program & INCT Translational Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kapczinski
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felix H P
authors.initials: FHP
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fumagalli
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pechansky
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Prof. Alvaro Alvim, 400, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lisia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: von Diemen
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D016578:Crack Cocaine; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D016578:Crack Cocaine; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: BDNF; Biomarkers; Crack-cocaine; TBARS; Treatment adherence