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Plasma BDNF levels vary in relation to body weight in females

Pillai, A; Bruno, D; Sarreal, AS; Hernando, RT; Saint-Louis, LA; Nierenberg, J; Ginsberg, SD; ... Buckley, PF; + view all (2012) Plasma BDNF levels vary in relation to body weight in females. PLoS One , 7 (7) , Article e39358. 10.1371/journal.pone.0039358. Green open access

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Abstract

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression as well as neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent studies show a role of BDNF in energy metabolism and body weight regulation. We examined BDNF levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from age matched elderly depressed and control subjects. Also, the association of BDNF levels with age, gender, body weight, body mass index (BMI), and cognitive performance was evaluated. We did not find any significant differences in plasma and CSF BDNF levels between depressed and control subjects. Plasma BDNF levels were negatively correlated with age (but not with BMI and body weight), when analyses were performed including both depressed and control subjects. A significant reduction in plasma BDNF levels was observed in females as compared to male subjects, and the change in BDNF levels were significantly and positively related to body weight in females. Furthermore, significant increases in Total Recall and Delayed Recall values were found in females as compared to males. In conclusion, the lower BDNF levels observed in females suggest that changes in peripheral BDNF levels are likely secondary to an altered energy balance. However, further studies using larger sample size are warranted.

Type: Article
Title: Plasma BDNF levels vary in relation to body weight in females
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039358
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039358
Language: English
Additional information: © 2012 Pillai et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. PMCID: PMC3388065
Keywords: Aged, Body Weight, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Energy Metabolism, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Characteristics
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Neurodegenerative Diseases
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1411964
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