Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Mar 22, 2016; 6(1): 1-6
Published online Mar 22, 2016. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.1
Post-traumatic stress disorder risk and brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met
Lei Zhang, Xiao-Xia Li, Xian-Zhang Hu
Lei Zhang, Xiao-Xia Li, Xian-Zhang Hu, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Supported by Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Lei Zhang, MD, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States. lezhang@usuhs.mil
Telephone: +1-301-2950921 Fax: +1-301-2950923
Received: September 2, 2015
Peer-review started: September 8, 2015
First decision: October 16, 2015
Revised: October 23, 2015
Accepted: December 18, 2015
Article in press: December 21, 2015
Published online: March 22, 2016
Processing time: 196 Days and 14.4 Hours
Abstract

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which regulates neuronal survival, growth differentiation, and synapse formation, is known to be associated with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the molecular mechanism for those mental disorders remains unknown. Studies have shown that BDNF is associated with PTSD risk and exaggerated startle reaction (a major arousal manifestation of PTSD) in United States military service members who were deployed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The frequency of the Met/Met in BDNF gene was greater among those with PTSD than those without PTSD. Among individuals who experienced fewer lifetime stressful events, the Met carriers have significantly higher total and startle scores on the PTSD Checklist than the Val/Val carriers. In addition, subjects with PTSD showed higher levels of BDNF in their peripheral blood plasma than the non-probable-PTSD controls. Increased BDNF levels and startle response were observed in both blood plasma and brain hippocampus by inescapable tail shock in rats. In this paper, we reviewed these data to discuss BDNF as a potential biomarker for PTSD risk and its possible roles in the onset of PTSD.

Keywords: Post-traumatic stress disorder; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Depression; Biomarker; Startle

Core tip: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which regulates neuronal survival, growth differentiation, and synapse formation, is known to be associated with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the molecular mechanism for those mental disorders remains unknown. In this paper, we reviewed these data to discuss BDNF as a potential biomarker for PTSD risk and its possible roles in the onset of PTSD.