PMID- 23285275 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20130723 LR - 20221207 IS - 1932-6203 (Electronic) IS - 1932-6203 (Linking) VI - 7 IP - 12 DP - 2012 TI - BDNF Val66Met variant and smoking in a Chinese population. PG - e53295 LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0053295 [doi] LID - e53295 AB - Several recent studies have supported the hypothesis that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a member of the neurotrophic factor family, might be associated with nicotine addiction. Association studies have also suggested that the BDNF gene might play a role in the susceptibility to nicotine dependence but results appear contradictory. The present work was therefore undertaken to examine the association of smoking with the BDNF Val66Met gene polymorphism in Chinese population. The BDNF Val66Met gene polymorphism was examined in 628 healthy male volunteers including 322 smokers and 306 non-smokers. Also, the BDNF serum levels were measured in 136 smokers and 97 nonsmokers. Our results showed no significant association between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism or serum levels among smokers and non-smokers. Smokers with the Met allele however started smoking significantly earlier than those with the Val/Val genotype (mean age at smoking initiation of 17.4, 17.9 and 21.2 years for Met/Met, Met/Val, and Val/Val, respectively; both p<0.05). No other significant differences between other variables such as number of cigarettes per day, smoking severity as measured by the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score and carbon monoxide (CO) levels (all p>0.05). In addition, there was no main effect of genotype on serum BDNF levels. Our findings suggest that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism may not be involved in susceptibility to smoking among the Chinese male population, but may influence the age at which smoking is initiated. However, the findings must be interpreted with caution because of the relatively small sample size for an association study. Results should be confirmed in a larger cohort. FAU - Zhang, Xiang Yang AU - Zhang XY AD - Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America. xyzhang@bcm.edu FAU - Chen, Da Chun AU - Chen DC FAU - Xiu, Mei Hong AU - Xiu MH FAU - Luo, Xingguang AU - Luo X FAU - Zuo, Lingjun AU - Zuo L FAU - Haile, Colin N AU - Haile CN FAU - Kosten, Therese A AU - Kosten TA FAU - Kosten, Thomas R AU - Kosten TR LA - eng PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't DEP - 20121228 PL - United States TA - PLoS One JT - PloS one JID - 101285081 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 7171WSG8A2 (BDNF protein, human) RN - AE28F7PNPL (Methionine) RN - HG18B9YRS7 (Valine) SB - IM MH - Adult MH - Age of Onset MH - Aged MH - Amino Acid Substitution MH - Asian People/genetics/statistics & numerical data MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*genetics/physiology MH - China/epidemiology MH - Genetic Predisposition to Disease MH - Humans MH - Male MH - Methionine/genetics MH - Middle Aged MH - Mutation, Missense/physiology MH - *Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/physiology MH - Population MH - Smoking/epidemiology/ethnology/*genetics MH - Tobacco Use Disorder/epidemiology/ethnology/genetics MH - Valine/genetics MH - Young Adult PMC - PMC3532294 COIS- Competing Interests: The corresponding author Xiang Yang Zhang is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member currently. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. EDAT- 2013/01/04 06:00 MHDA- 2013/07/24 06:00 PMCR- 2012/12/28 CRDT- 2013/01/04 06:00 PHST- 2012/04/21 00:00 [received] PHST- 2012/11/27 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2013/01/04 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2013/01/04 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2013/07/24 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2012/12/28 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - PONE-D-12-11707 [pii] AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0053295 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e53295. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053295. Epub 2012 Dec 28.