TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Polymorphism on Levels of Hippocampal N-Acetyl-Aspartate Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging at 3 Tesla
AU - Stern, Alexa J.
AU - Savostyanova, Antonina A.
AU - Goldman, Aaron
AU - Barnett, Alan S.
AU - van der Veen, Jan Willem C.
AU - Callicott, Joseph H.
AU - Mattay, Venkata S.
AU - Weinberger, Daniel R.
AU - Marenco, Stefano
N1 - Funding Information:
The funding for this work was provided entirely by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Intramural Research Program (IRP).
PY - 2008/11/15
Y1 - 2008/11/15
N2 - Background: This study was conducted to corroborate prior evidence of an effect of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) valine (val) to methionine (met) amino acid substitution at codon 66 (val66met) polymorphism on measures of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) containing compounds in healthy subjects. Methods: The NAA to creatine (Cre) ratio (NAA/Cre), NAA to choline (Cho) ratio (NAA/Cho), and Cho to Cre ratio (Cho/Cre) were measured in the left and right hippocampi, left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, occipital lobe, anterior cingulate, and white matter of the centrum semiovale of 69 carefully screened healthy volunteers utilizing proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) at 3 Tesla (T). Results: Val/met subjects exhibited significantly reduced levels of left hippocampal NAA/Cre and NAA/Cho compared with val/val subjects. This effect was independent of age, IQ, number of voxels, hippocampal volume, or gray matter content in the voxels of interest. Analysis of other brain regions showed no effect of BDNF genotype on NAA measures. Conclusions: We confirmed the association between the met-BDNF variant and reduced levels of hippocampal NAA found with a similar technique at 1.5T. The consonance of our results with prior findings adds to the evidence that the BDNF val/met genotype affects hippocampal biology with implications for a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.
AB - Background: This study was conducted to corroborate prior evidence of an effect of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) valine (val) to methionine (met) amino acid substitution at codon 66 (val66met) polymorphism on measures of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) containing compounds in healthy subjects. Methods: The NAA to creatine (Cre) ratio (NAA/Cre), NAA to choline (Cho) ratio (NAA/Cho), and Cho to Cre ratio (Cho/Cre) were measured in the left and right hippocampi, left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, occipital lobe, anterior cingulate, and white matter of the centrum semiovale of 69 carefully screened healthy volunteers utilizing proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) at 3 Tesla (T). Results: Val/met subjects exhibited significantly reduced levels of left hippocampal NAA/Cre and NAA/Cho compared with val/val subjects. This effect was independent of age, IQ, number of voxels, hippocampal volume, or gray matter content in the voxels of interest. Analysis of other brain regions showed no effect of BDNF genotype on NAA measures. Conclusions: We confirmed the association between the met-BDNF variant and reduced levels of hippocampal NAA found with a similar technique at 1.5T. The consonance of our results with prior findings adds to the evidence that the BDNF val/met genotype affects hippocampal biology with implications for a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.
KW - Aging
KW - IQ
KW - choline
KW - gray matter
KW - healthy
KW - hippocampal volume
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.07.009
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.07.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 18707679
AN - SCOPUS:54349085028
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 64
SP - 856
EP - 862
JO - Biological psychiatry
JF - Biological psychiatry
IS - 10
ER -