TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - BDNF serum levels in subjects developing or not post-traumatic stress disorder after trauma exposure
JO  - Brain and cognition
A1  - Angelucci, Francesco
A1  - Ricci, Valerio
A1  - Gelfo, Francesca
A1  - Martinotti, Giovanni
A1  - Brunetti, Marcella
A1  - Sepede, Gianna
A1  - Signorelli, Maria
A1  - Aguglia, Eugenio
A1  - Pettorruso, Mauro
A1  - Vellante, Federica
A1  - di Giannantonio, Massimo
A1  - Caltagirone, Carlo
SP  - 118
EP  - 122
VL  - 84
IS  - 1
N2  - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a syndrome resulting from exposure to a severe traumatic event that poses threatened death or injury and produces intense fear and helplessness. The neural structures implicated in PTSD development belong to the limbic system, an important region for emotional processing. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that serves as survival factor for selected populations of central nervous system (CNS) neurons and plays a role in the limbic system by regulating synaptic plasticity, memory processes and behavior. Impaired BDNF production in the brain can lead to a variety of CNS dysfunctions including symptoms associated with PTSD. However, so far fewer studies have investigated this neurotrophin in patients with PTSD. Furthermore, given the multiple role of BDNF in various CNS disorders, it cannot be excluded that traumatic events per se may influence neurotrophin levels, without a direct association to the PTSD syndrome. To elucidate these issues, in this study we analyzed BDNF serum levels in two groups of subjects: patients with trauma exposure who developed PTSD, and subjects with trauma exposure who did not develop PTSD. We found that BDNF serum levels were lower in PTSD patients as compared to related control subjects. Thus, these data suggest that BDNF might be involved in pathophysiology of PTSD and consequently therapeutic approaches aimed at restoring BDNF serum levels may be beneficial to this pathology.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0278-2626
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2013.11.012
ID  - ref1
ER  -