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Are serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations related to brain structure and psychopathology in late childhood and early adolescence?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

Celia Maria de Araujo Open the ORCID record for Celia Maria de Araujo [Opens in a new window] ,
Walter Swardfager ,
Andre Zugman ,
Hugo Cogo-Moreira ,
Sintia I. Belangero ,
Vanessa K. Ota ,
Leticia M. Spindola ,
Hakon Hakonarson ,
Renata Pellegrino  and
Ary Gadelha
...Show all authors
Celia Maria de Araujo*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada
Walter Swardfager
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
Andre Zugman
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada
Hugo Cogo-Moreira
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil
Sintia I. Belangero
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada Department of Morphology and Genetics, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Vanessa K. Ota
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada Department of Morphology and Genetics, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Leticia M. Spindola
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada Department of Morphology and Genetics, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Hakon Hakonarson
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Renata Pellegrino
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Ary Gadelha
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada
Giovanni A. Salum
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Pedro M. Pan
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada
Rodrigo B. Mansur
Affiliation:
Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONCanada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONCanada
Marcelo Hoexter
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department & Institute of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Felipe Picon
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
João R. Sato
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Mathematics & Statistics Institute, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, Brazil
Elisa Brietzke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada
Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira
Affiliation:
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (DCNL), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Luis A. P. Rohde
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Euripedes C. Miguel
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONCanada
Rodrigo A. Bressan
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil
Andrea P. Jackowski
Affiliation:
National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCTCNPq), São Paulo, Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston ON, Canada
*
*Celia M de Araujo, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

Mental disorders can have a major impact on brain development. Peripheral blood concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are lower in adult psychiatric disorders. Serum BDNF concentrations and BDNF genotype have been associated with cortical maturation in children and adolescents. In 2 large independent samples, this study tests associations between serum BDNF concentrations, brain structure, and psychopathology, and the effects of BDNF genotype on BDNF serum concentrations in late childhood and early adolescence.

Methods

Children and adolescents (7-14 years old) from 2 cities (n = 267 in Porto Alegre; n = 273 in São Paulo) were evaluated as part of the Brazilian high-risk cohort (HRC) study. Serum BDNF concentrations were quantified by sandwich ELISA. Genotyping was conducted from blood or saliva samples using the SNParray Infinium HumanCore Array BeadChip. Subcortical volumes and cortical thickness were quantified using FreeSurfer. The Development and Well-Being Behavior Assessment was used to identify the presence of a psychiatric disorder.

Results

Serum BDNF concentrations were not associated with subcortical volumes or with cortical thickness. Serum BDNF concentration did not differ between participants with and without mental disorders, or between Val homozygotes and Met carriers.

Conclusions

No evidence was found to support serum BDNF concentrations as a useful marker of developmental differences in brain and behavior in early life. Negative findings were replicated in 2 of the largest independent samples investigated to date.

Keywords

BDNFMRICortical ThicknessPsychiatric DisordersChildrenAdolescents
Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 25 , Issue 6 , December 2020 , pp. 790 - 796
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

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