title: Female-specific effect of the BDNF gene on Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in the progression of AD, but the genetic association between BDNF and AD remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential association between genetic variants in BDNF and AD in Han Chinese and to investigate whether the association is affected by gender. A 3-stage study was conducted to evaluate the genetic association between BDNF and AD. Data mining of the reported expression data, brain-imaging data, and biomarker data in AD patients was also performed to further validate the results. We found a female-specific genetic association of rs6265 with AD and a gender-related messenger RNA expression of BDNF in brain tissues of AD patients. In addition, we observed a clear female-specific risk trend for the effect of rs6265 on AD endophenotypes. Our results clarified the available controversies regarding the role of rs6265 in AD and indicated that BDNF may be a female-specific risk gene for AD.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Dong
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Deng-Feng
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Rongcan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Mood Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yiru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: The Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Mood Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: yaoyg@mail.kiz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yong-Gang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D058068:Endophenotypes; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012306:Risk; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; BDNF; Gender effect; Han Chinese