Screening of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) single nucleotide polymorphisms and plasma BDNF levels among Malaysian major depressive disorder patients

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 1; p. e0211241
• Main Authors: Aldoghachi, Asraa Faris, Tor, Yin Sim, Redzun, Siti Zubaidah, Lokman, Khairul Aiman Bin, Razaq, Nurul Asyikin Abdul, Shahbudin, Aishah Farhana, Badamasi, Ibrahim Mohamed, Cheah, Pike-See, Stanslas, Johnson, Veerakumarasivam, Abhi, Rosli, Rozita, Ibrahim, Normala, Lye, Munn Sann, Ling, King-Hwa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.01.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Alleles; Basal forebrain; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain; Brain research; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - blood; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics; Care and treatment; Case-Control Studies; Cerebellum; Depressive Disorder, Major - blood; Depressive Disorder, Major - etiology; Depressive Disorder, Major - genetics; DNA methylation; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Ethics; Etiology; Female; Forebrain; Gene expression; Genetic aspects; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetic Testing; Genotype; Genotypes; Humans; Major depressive disorder; Malaysia - epidemiology; Male; Medical research; Medical screening; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; Neurosciences; Neurotrophins; Patients; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Plasma; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Population genetics; Proteins; Psychiatry; Research and Analysis Methods; Single nucleotide polymorphisms; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Suicides & suicide attempts; Young Adult; Malaysia; Selangor Malaysia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211241

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin found in abundance in brain regions such as the hippocampus, cortex, cerebellum and basal forebrain. It has been associated with the risk of susceptibility to major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to determine the association of three BDNF variants (rs6265, rs1048218 and rs1048220) with Malaysian MDD patients. The correlation of these variants to the plasma BDNF level among Malaysian MDD patients was assessed. A total of 300 cases and 300 matched controls recruited from four public hospitals within the Klang Valley of Selangor State, Malaysia and matched for age, sex and ethnicity were screened for BDNF rs6265, rs1048218 and rs1048220 using high resolution melting (HRM). BDNF rs1048218 and BDNF rs1048220 were monomorphic and were excluded from further analysis. The distribution of the alleles and genotypes for BDNF rs6265 was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for the controls (p = 0.13) but was in Hardy Weinberg disequilibrium for the cases (p = 0.011). Findings from this study indicated that having BDNF rs6265 in the Malaysian population increase the odds of developing MDD by 2.05 folds (95% CI = 1.48-3.65). Plasma from 206 cases and 206 controls were randomly selected to measure the BDNF level using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A significant decrease in the plasma BDNF level of the cases as compared to controls (p<0.0001) was observed. However, there was no evidence of the effect of the rs6265 genotypes on the BDNF level indicating a possible role of other factors in modulating the BDNF level that warrants further investigation. The study indicated that having the BDNF rs6265 allele (A) increase the risk of developing MDD in the Malaysian population suggesting a possible role of BDNF in the etiology of the disorder.