title: Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels associate with cognitive improvement in patients with schizophrenia treated with electroacupuncture.
abstract: Accumulating evidence supports that acupuncture has been successfully used for the treatment of neurological disorders to improve cognitive function. This study was set to evaluate the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA, using two acupoints: Baihui and Shenting) on clinical symptoms, cognitive function and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in patients with schizophrenia. Sixty-one inpatients diagnosed schizophrenia with DSM-IV criteria were recruited. The participants were randomly divided into an experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=31). The patients were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) at baseline and after EA treatment. There were no significant differences in the PANSS scores and serum BDNF levels between the experimental group and the control group, either at baseline or at the end of the 4-week study period. However, the EA treatment appeared to have significant benefits on memory and moderate benefits on executive functions and problem solving. Significant positive correlation was observed between the increase of BDNF levels and memory improvement after EA treatment. Our results indicated that EA treatment could improve cognitive function, and the cognitive benefits positively associate with serum BDNF levels in patients with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Zuo-Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Biao
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Yi-Lang
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China. Electronic address: leslie6688@sina.com.
authors.forename: Si-Hai
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: BDNF; Cognitive deficit; Electroacupuncture; Schizophrenia