The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Functional Polymorphism and Hand Grip Strength Impact the Association between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels and Cognition in Older Adults in the United States

Introduction Aging is associated with subtle cognitive decline in attention, memory, executive function, processing speed, and reasoning. Although lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been linked to cognitive decline among older adults, it is not known if the association differs among individuals with various BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) genotypes. In addition, it is not clear whether these associations vary by hand grip strength or physical activity (PA). Methods A total of 2904 older adults were included in this study using data from the Health and Retirement Study. Associations between serum BDNF and measures of cognitive function were evaluated using multivariable linear regression models stratified by Met allele status. PA and hand grip strength were added to the model to evaluate whether including these variables altered associations between serum BDNF and cognition. Results Mean age was 71.4 years old, and mean body mass index was 28.3 kg/m2. Serum BDNF levels were positively associated with higher total cognitive score (beta = 0.34, p = .07), mental status (beta = 0.16, p = .07), and word recall (beta = 0.22, p =.04) among Met carriers, while serum BDNF levels were negatively associated with mental status (beta = −0.09, p = .07) among non-Met carriers. Furthermore, associations changed when hand grip strength was added to the model but not when PA was added to the model. Conclusions The BDNF Val66Met variant may moderate the association between serum BDNF levels and cognitive function in older adults. Furthermore, such associations differ according to hand grip strength but not PA.

Treating Agitation in Patients with Dementia with a Therapy Dog in a Milieu Therapy Setting on a Geropsychiatric Ward

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Animal-assisted intervention has become a common therapeutic practice used for patients with dementia in home-dwelling and institutions. The most established procedure is a visiting service by specially trained dogs and their owners to improve social interactions and reduce symptoms of agitation. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The study aims to investigate the effects of a therapy dog on agitation of inpatients with dementia in a gerontopsychiatric ward. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> The severity of agitation was assessed by a rater blinded for the presence of the dog via the Overt Agitation Severity Scale (OASS). The scale was conducted on 1 day with the dog and his handler present (resident doctor on the ward) and on another day with only the handler present. Each patient was his/her own control. Heart rate variability (HRV) and serum level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) of the patients were measured on both days. 26 patients with the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score &#x3c;21 and the diagnosis of dementia were included in the study. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A significant reduction of agitation in the OASS could be shown when the dog was present (<i>p</i> = 0.006). The data neither demonstrated a difference in the HRV for the parameters mean heart rate (<i>p</i> = 0.65), root mean square of successive differences (<i>p</i> = 0.63), and high frequencies (<i>p</i> = 0.27) nor in serum BDNF concentrations (<i>p</i> = 0.42). <b><i>Discussion:</i></b> Therapy dogs can be implemented as a therapeutic tool in a gerontopsychiatric ward to reduce symptoms of agitation in patients with dementia. The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00024093).

Dietary Macronutrients Do Not Differently Influence Postprandial Serum and Plasma Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Concentrations: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Cross-Over Trial

Objectives: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in cognition and metabolism. Specific nutrients can affect fasting BDNF concentrations, which are potentially mediated by insulin and/or glucose. Since macronutrients trigger each a different insulin and glucose response, we examined postprandial effects of meals rich in fat, carbohydrates, or protein on BDNF concentrations. BDNF was analyzed in serum and plasma, since concentration differences can be found between matrices.Methods: Healthy overweight/obese male participants (n = 18) participated in this randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial consisting of three test days with 1 week wash-out periods. Either a high-fat (En% fat, carbohydrates, protein: 52.3, 39.2, 8.0), high-carbohydrate (En% 9.6, 81.5, 8.6) or high-protein meal (En% 10.6, 51.5, 36.9) was consumed on each test day. BDNF concentrations were measured after 0, 60, and 240 min. Glucose and insulin concentrations were measured after 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 min.Results: BDNF concentrations were higher in serum compared with plasma (P &lt; 0.001). Postprandial BDNF concentrations in serum decreased significantly after the high-fat (P = 0.013) and high-carbohydrate meals (P = 0.040), and showed a trend after the high-protein meal (P = 0.076). No differences were found between meals (P = 0.66). Postprandial BDNF concentrations measured in plasma did not significantly change after the different meals (P = 0.47). As total area under the curve (AUC) for glucose was significantly higher after the high-carbohydrate meal compared with the high-fat (P = 0.003) and high-protein meals (P &lt; 0.001), and the total AUC for insulin was higher after the high-carbohydrate (P &lt; 0.001) and high-protein meals (P &lt; 0.001) compared with the high-fat meal, it seems that acute changes in glucose and insulin do not affect postprandial BDNF concentrations. However, after the high-protein meal, the higher total AUC for glucose correlated with lower serum BDNF concentrations, and a higher maximal increase in glucose correlated with a lower maximal increase in plasma BDNF concentrations. There were no correlations with insulin concentrations after either meal.Conclusion: Serum BDNF concentrations were higher than plasma concentrations. Since postprandial BDNF responses were not different between the meals, we conclude that there is no role for insulin or glucose in regulating postprandial BDNF concentrations.Clinical Trial Registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT03139890].

CHANGES IN SERUM LEVELS OF BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR WITH ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY AND PHARMACOTHERAPY AND ITS CLINICAL CORRELATES IN MALE SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS

Objectives: It has been postulated that neurotrophin dysregulation leads to disorganization in neuronal networks, which results in schizophrenia. The current study sets out to evaluate if the finding of lower BDNF levels in schizophrenia patients could be confirmed in an independent cohort, and to investigate if the BDNF levels can be altered with different treatment modalities such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and/or antipsychotic pharmacotherapy (PT). Methods: A total of 54 male patients with schizophrenia and 35 healthy controls were included in the study. Schizophrenia patients were subdivided into two groups as the ones who underwent ECT+PT and only PT. Clinical and sociodemographic data questionnaire, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and blood sample collection for BDNF assessment were applied to all patients (on first and last days of admissions) and healthy participants (on the day of the interview). Then, clinical parameters and blood sample outcomes were statistically analyzed. Results: Mean BDNF levels of healthy individuals was significantly higher than mean pre and post-treatment BDNF levels in both PT only and ECT+PT groups. While serum BDNF levels did not increase after ECT+PT, there was a trend level increase in the PT only group. There was no significant correlation between the change in serum BDNF levels with total PANSS scores in either group after treatment. Conclusions: We could confirm previously suggested data of lower serum BDNF levels in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy population but we couldn’t find significant increase in serum BDNF levels with ECT+PT or only PT as some previous studies suggested.

A Systematic Review of the Effects of Football Playing on Changes in Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Level

Background: Consistent evidence suggests that exercise improves cognition and decision making, with preliminary evidence suggesting that brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNFs) may mediate these effects on high-intensity interval activities, such as in football playing. We conducted a systematic review of studies on football players or football task interventions that evaluated the causality of exercise or its relationship with changes in the basal BDNF level. Methods: The search was conducted in PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane, and FECYT (Web of Sciences, CCC, DIIDW, KJD, MEDLINE, RSCI, and SCIELO) according to the guidelines for performing systematic reviews in the sport sciences field. Results: From the 44 studies initially identified, seven studies were fully reviewed, and their outcome measures were extracted and analysed. In the scientific study of football, the studies published thus far have explored the relationship of serum BDNF levels and other cognitive function factors with the genetic expression of polymorphisms, the anthropometric and fitness conditions, the acute exercise effect of the match, and the typical actions of the match such as heading. Conclusions: The heterogeneity of designs and variables evaluated in studies related to BDNF exercise or interaction and football playing does not allow us to conclusively determine that there is a relationship with the cause or effect of genetic, anthropometric, or conditional factors that derive from an increase in BDNF due to actions during the playing of football.

COVID-19 Outcome Relates With Circulating BDNF, According to Patient Adiposity and Age

Background and Aims: We evaluated adipose tissue-derived hormones, body composition, serum metabolic profile, levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and the association of these parameters with the clinical outcome in patients with COVID-19. We sought to examine whether obesity, sex, and age influence the adipose tissue endocrine response to the disease.Methods: This prospective study investigated 145 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Patients were categorized based on their body mass index (BMI), sex and age, and were also classified regarding their outcome after hospitalization as: (a) Non-ICU: patients hospitalized who did not receive intensive care; (b) ICU-survivor: patients admitted to the intensive care unit and discharged; (c) ICU-death: patients who died. Blood samples were collected by the hospital staff between the first and third day of hospitalization. Serum leptin, adiponectin and BDNF concentrations, triglycerides, total cholesterol and cholesterol fractions were performed following the manufacturer's guidelines.Results: We demonstrate that BDNF levels predict intensive care (IC) need (p &lt; 0.01). This association was found to be stronger in patients &gt;60y (p = 0.026). Neither leptin nor adiponectin concentration was associated with IC requirement or with patient's outcome, while the BDNF/adiponectin ratio was closely associated with worsened outcomes (p &lt; 0.01). BDNF concentration was similar between sexes, however tended to be lower in male patients (p = 0.023). In older patients, BDNF concentration was lower than that of younger patients (p = 0.020). These age and sex-specific differences should be considered when employing these potential markers for prognosis assessment. While appetite and body composition regulating hormones secreted by the white adipose tissue are not reliable predictors of disease severity, the ratio BDNF/adiponectin was indicative of patient status.Conclusion: Thus, we propose that serum BDNF content and BDNF/adiponectin ratio may serve as tools predicting worsened prognosis in COVID-19, especially for male patients.

Higher Serum BDNF Levels are Associated with Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline in Older Adults :The Otassha Study

Introduction There has been growing interest in the use of circulating levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the blood as a biomarker in the context of patients with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Prospective data on cognitive decline in the broad older population, however, remain limited. We assessed the relationship of serum BDNF levels with short-term decline in cognitive functioning of community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Prospective study of 405 adults 65-84 years old without dementia in Tokyo, Japan. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Japanese version (MoCA-J) and its subscales were used. Linear regression assessed standardized differences in test score differences between baseline (2011) and follow-up (2013) visits, according to baseline serum BDNF quartiles, with adjustment for baseline demographics, disease indicators, and cognitive scores. Results Among participants who performed on the MoCA-J at baseline (scores in bottom quartile), cognitive decline was .65 (95% CI: .08 - 1.2; p=.025) standard deviations (SD) more pronounced in those with lowest than highest BDNF levels. Decline in executive function, but not in other subdomains, was also most pronounced in those with lowest baseline serum BDNF levels (difference: .32 SD; 95%CI: .08-.55; p=.007) Conclusion Lower serum BDNF levels were associated with greater 2-year cognitive decline in community-dwelling older Japanese adults. Decline varied among cognitive subdomains, and baseline cognition. Research seeking to evaluate the added-value of serum BDNF for screening and/or health promotion initiatives involving physical activity, which has been linked to increment in BDNF levels, is warranted.

Upregulation of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in Patients With Mental Illness Not Using Psychotropic Medication

BackgroundThere is evidence that brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) plays a protective role in the brain. Peripheral levels of BDNF correlate with its concentration in the brain. Previous studies have revealed lower serum BDNF levels in patients with mental illnesses. In most studies serum BDNF correlates negatively with psychiatric disorders and disease severity. Most studies in this field are on psychiatric diagnosis and personality traits. The aim of our study is to explore associations between general psychiatric symptoms, independent of diagnostic groups, and serum BDNF as well as the inflammatory biomarker high-sensitive CRP (hs-CRP). Comparison between the group regularly using psychotropic medication and those not using psychotropic medication is conducted. Methods The study is a cross sectional study with 132 participants from a general open inpatient psychiatric ward at the Nordland Hospital Trust, Bodø, Norway. Participants were assessed on serum levels of BDNF and hs-CRP. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by a self-rating scale (Symptom check list, SCL-90- R). Multiple linear regression model was used for statistical analyses of associations between levels of BDNF, hs-CRP and symptoms. Results We found a positive association (p < 0.05), for most SCL-90 symptom clusters with BDNF in the psychotropic medication-free group. No associations were found in the group of patients using psychotropic medication, except one, the Paranoid Ideation cluster (p 0.022). No associations were found between hs-CRP and symptom clusters. Conclusion: We found no relation between symptom clusters and the inflammatory biomarker hs-CRP. Serum BDNF levels were positively associated with intensity of psychiatric symptoms in the group of patients not using psychotropic medication. In the group on psychotropic medication no associations for BDNF were seen. Our findings are in conflict with several previous studies reporting increased hs-CRP as well as decreased rather than increased BDNF in mental suffering.