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The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is associated with escitalopram response in depressed patients

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Abstract

Background

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is a candidate gene in therapeutic responses to antidepressants. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of BDNF allelic variability on responses to escitalopram treatment at 3 weeks after treatment initiation and at a 6-week endpoint.

Methods

We included 187 Caucasian subjects with depression; 153 completed the 6-week study. Clinical evaluation was performed using the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) before and after 3–6 weeks of treatment.

Results

After 3 weeks of treatment, we saw significantly better treatment responses in the Met carriers and greater antidepressant resistance among the Val/Val homozygotes. Relative to Val/Val homozygous (59.78 %), a significantly greater proportion of subjects Met-carriers (77.94 %) responded to escitalopram treatment (χ 2 = 5.88, p = 0.015). After 6 weeks, we found the same pattern of results but this effect did not reach statistical significance (χ 2 = 2.07, p = 0.15).

Conclusion

These findings highlight a significant association between the BDNF valine to methionine substitution (Val66Met) polymorphism and the treatment response to escitalopram in a Caucasian population of severely depressed inpatients.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all of the study participants.

Author contributions

WEH, CB, and VC were involved in the design of the study and contributed to the interpretation of the current analysis. PG helped to develop the design of the study. WEH, PG, and VC were involved in data collection and performing experiments. YIV, PV, and CRA analyzed the genetic samples. JL and PV helped to draft the analysis plan of the current study and assisted in the creation of the initial draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed revisions to subsequent drafts of the manuscript and have contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding

This project was funded by a Hospital Clinical Research Program (Hôpital Promoteur, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France) and an unrestricted educational grant from H. Lundbeck A/S. The funders had no role in the creation of the study protocol, in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinique Psychiatrique Universitaire, Centre Expert Dépression Résistante, Fondation FondaMental, CHRU de Tours, 37044, Tours Cedex 9, France

    Wissam El-Hage, Philippe Gaillard & Vincent Camus

  2. UMR Inserm U930, Université François Rabelais de Tours, Tours, France

    Wissam El-Hage, Patrick Vourc’h, Philippe Gaillard, Catherine Belzung, Christian R. Andres & Vincent Camus

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France

    Patrick Vourc’h & Christian R. Andres

  4. INSERM CIC 1415, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France

    Julie Léger

  5. Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

    Yadira Ibarguen-Vargas

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  1. Wissam El-Hage
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  2. Patrick Vourc’h
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  3. Philippe Gaillard
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  4. Julie Léger
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  5. Catherine Belzung
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  6. Yadira Ibarguen-Vargas
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  7. Christian R. Andres
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  8. Vincent Camus
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Correspondence to Wissam El-Hage.

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El-Hage, W., Vourc’h, P., Gaillard, P. et al. The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is associated with escitalopram response in depressed patients. Psychopharmacology 232, 575–581 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3694-z

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