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Published VersionCC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in serum correlate with symptom severity in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, Vol.19, pp.1-6
2025
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
Background
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterised by pervasive and persistent symptoms that negatively impact quality-of-life. A relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and PTSD symptom severity has been investigated with mixed results. This study aimed to systematically investigate BDNF and PTSD symptom severity in a PTSD cohort (n = 43).
Methods
BDNF levels were determined from both serum and plasma using two BDNF assays (targeting general BDNF and mature BDNF specifically). BDNF levels were compared to PTSD symptom severity scores determined by clinical interview using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5) for DSM-5 and the self-rated Posttraumatic Stress Disorder checklist (PCL-5) for DSM-5.
Results
Only mature BDNF levels from serum revealed a significant negative correlation to both CAPS-5 and PCL-5 scores. Additionally, when the study cohort was defined by the CAPS-5 criteria for PTSD, the BDNF to symptom severity correlation was stronger than when the cohort was defined by the PCL-5 criteria.
Limitations
This study acknowledges that limited numbers of PTSD participants with complex co-morbidities and multiple test comparisons requires caution in overinterpretation of results.
Conclusions
Overall, this study found that decreasing levels of mature BDNF from serum was associated with increasing symptom severity and that the type of sample, the specificity of the BDNF assay and the PTSD evaluation method all impacted whether a relationship between BDNF and PTSD symptom severity could be detected.
Details
- Title
- Mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in serum correlate with symptom severity in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Authors
- Bonnie L Quigley (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteNathan Wellington - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteMegan Dutton - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteAna P Bouças - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteGrace Forsyth - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteCyrana C Gallay - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteMaryam Hajishafiee - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteJim Lagopoulos - Thompson Brain and Mind Healthcare (Australia)Adem T Can - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteDaniel Hermens - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson Institute
- Publication details
- Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, Vol.19, pp.1-6
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jadr.2024.100854
- ISSN
- 2666-9153
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/4.0/).
- Grant note
- Funding for this work was provided generally from the Australian Commonwealth Government's ‘Prioritizing Mental Health Initiative’ to support Thompson Institute research into trauma-related mental health conditions (including PTSD).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine; UniSC Clinical Trials Centre; Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991083706402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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