Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Polymorphism and Depression-Suicide
İlayda Üzümcü1, Oytun Erbaş1,2
1ERBAS Institute of Experimental Medicine, Illinois, USA & Gebze, Turkey
2Department of Physiology, Medical Faculty of Demiroğlu Bilim University, Istanbul, Turkey
Keywords: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), depression, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), Val66Met polymorphism.
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a member of the neurotrophin family that has significant roles in neuron regulations, such as proper functioning of the brain and nervous system. Brain-derived neurotrophic factors response to stress, neural plasticity, behavior, mood, and in addition to these, the decrease in plasma levels in cases of depression, completed suicide and suicidal tendency have associated this gene with the pathophysiology of suicide and depression. Val66Met (valin 66 methionine), which is a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), results in Met replacing the Val at the 66th codon. It was found that this polymorphism, which has various genotypes, is mostly seen in cases of depression and suicide, with the Val/Met genotype and the frequency of the Met allele. In this context, it has been tried to explain how and in what way it affects the cases, what should be considered in future studies.
Cite this article as: Üzümcü İ, Erbaş O. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Polymorphism and Depression-Suicide. JEB Med Sci 2021;2(2):170-180.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.