Plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, learning capacity and cognition in patients with first episode psychosis

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Flávio Kapczinski¹  Aitor Palomino²  Carlos Matute²  Laura Stertz³  Ana González-Pinto⁴  Iris de la Rosa⁴  Patricia Vega⁴  Sonia Ruiz de Azua⁴  Fernando Mosquera⁴  Sara Barbeito⁴ 

[1] Bipolar Disorders Program & INCT Translational Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2350 Ramiro Barcelos St, 90035-003, Porto Alegre, Brazil;CIBERNED. Neuroscience Department and Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience, University of the Basque 514 Country, 48940, Vizcaya, Spain;CIBERNED. Neuroscience Department and Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience, University of the Basque 514 Country, 48940, Vizcaya, Spain;Bipolar Disorders Program & INCT Translational Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2350 Ramiro Barcelos St, 90035-003, Porto Alegre, Brazil;CIBERSAM (Biomedical Research Center in Mental Health Net), University Hospital of Alava, University of the Basque Country, 29 Olaguibel St, 01004, Vitoria, Spain;

关键词: Psychotic disorder;    Brain-derived neurotrophic factor;    Schizophrenia;    Cognition;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-13-27

 received in 2012-10-31, accepted in 2013-01-14,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCognitive impairments are seen in first psychotic episode (FEP) patients. The neurobiological underpinnings that might underlie these changes remain unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate whether Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels are associated with cognitive impairment in FEP patients compared with healthy controls.Methods45 FEP patients and 45 healthy controls matched by age, gender and educational level were selected from the Basque Country area of Spain. Plasma BDNF levels were assessed in healthy controls and in patients. A battery of cognitive tests was applied to both groups, with the patients being assessed at 6 months after the acute episode and only in those with a clinical response to treatment.ResultsPlasma BDNF levels were altered in patients compared with the control group. In FEP patients, we observed a positive association between BDNF levels at six months and five cognitive domains (learning ability, immediate and delayed memory, abstract thinking and processing speed) which persisted after controlling for medications prescribed, drug use, intelligence quotient (IQ) and negative symptoms. In the healthy control group, BDNF levels were not associated with cognitive test scores.ConclusionOur results suggest that BDNF is associated with the cognitive impairment seen after a FEP. Further investigations of the role of this neurotrophin in the symptoms associated with psychosis onset are warranted.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Ruiz de Azua et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.