PMID- 24812918 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20140605 LR - 20200103 IS - 0204-8043 (Print) IS - 0204-8043 (Linking) VI - 56 IP - 1 DP - 2014 Jan-Mar TI - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor and its serum levels in schizophrenic patients. PG - 20-3 AB - INTRODUCTION: Neurotrophins have an important role in regulating the development and maintenance of the peripheral and central nervous systems' function. Thus, the neurotrophin hypothesis of schizophrenia has postulated that the changes in the brain of schizophrenic patients are the result of disturbances of developing processes involving these molecules. AIM: We analyse in the present study the changes in the serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in schizophrenic patients as possible epiphenomena of underlying alterations of the neurotrophic factor in central nervous system, reflecting its role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-one schizophrenic patients satisfying the DSM-IV criteria for diagnosis of schizophrenia were enrolled in the study. The control group consisted of 28 age-matched mentally healthy subjects. Serum BDNF levels were determined in patients and normal controls using ELISA (Chemicon International, USA & Canada). The data were analyzed statistically with Student's t- test in SPSS 9.0. RESULTS: The serum BDNF levels were lower in the schizophrenic patients than in the control subjects, reaching statistically significant difference (t = 2.72, p = 0.009). Female patients had lower serum BDNF levels than the male patients but the difference fell short of statistical significance (t = 0.1, p = 0.9). CONCLUSIONS: The BDNF reduction in serum indicates a potential deficit in neurotrophic factor release in patients with schizophrenia and support the concept that BDNF might be associated with schizophrenia. FAU - Koeva, Yvetta A AU - Koeva YA AD - Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology FAU - Sivkov, Stefan T AU - Sivkov ST AD - Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology FAU - Akabaliev, Valentin H AU - Akabaliev VH AD - Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology FAU - Ivanova, Roumiana Y AU - Ivanova RY AD - Central Clinical Laboratory FAU - Deneva, Tania I AU - Deneva TI AD - Central Clinical Laboratory FAU - Grozlekova, Lilia S AU - Grozlekova LS AD - Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology FAU - Georgieva, Vessela AU - Georgieva V AD - Department of Radiology, Medical University Plovdiv, Bulgaria LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - Bulgaria TA - Folia Med (Plovdiv) JT - Folia medica JID - 2984761R RN - 0 (Biomarkers) RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) SB - IM MH - Biomarkers/blood MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*blood MH - Case-Control Studies MH - Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Male MH - Schizophrenia/*blood/physiopathology EDAT- 2014/05/13 06:00 MHDA- 2014/06/06 06:00 CRDT- 2014/05/13 06:00 PHST- 2014/05/13 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2014/05/13 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2014/06/06 06:00 [medline] AID - 10.2478/folmed-2014-0003 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Folia Med (Plovdiv). 2014 Jan-Mar;56(1):20-3. doi: 10.2478/folmed-2014-0003.