Korean J Biol Psychiatry.  2006 Nov;13(4):267-272.

An Association Study of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Gene Polymorphism and Schizophrenia

• Lee HY
• Kim DJ
• Kim YK

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Schizophrenia is a clinically heterogenous disease with a strong genetic component. Many studies have suggested that brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) is involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. This study was performed to determine whether there is an association between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and schizophrenia.
METHODS
To identify any genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, we investigated the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in 106 patients with schizophrenia and 147 normal controls with PCR-RFLP method. Statistical analyses were used to test the association between and BDNF Val66Met genotype and Schizophrenia.
RESULTS
No association was found between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and schizophrenia. No significant differences were found comparing the BDNF genotype distributions according to the age of onset, the number of admission and familial loading in schizophrenia.
CONCLUSION
This result indicates that BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is not associated with schizophrenia. However, further studies with a large number of subjects are needed to confirm whether the BDNF gene is related to schizophrenia.

Keyword

BDNF; olymorphism; chizophrenia; ssociation

MeSH Terms

Age of Onset
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor*
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genotype
Humans
Schizophrenia*
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor