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Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Val66met (rs6265) Polymorphism Associated with Global and Multi-Domain Cognitive Impairment in Ischemic Stroke Patients

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Activitas Nervosa Superior

Abstract

It is suggested that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has a protective role against brain lesion after an ischemic stroke (IS); however, there is inadequate information as to the role of BDNF in cognitive impairments following IS. This study evaluate the effects of IS and BDNF (Val66Met) gene polymorphism on global and multi-domain (attention, memory, verbal fluency, language, and visuospatial abilities) cognitive functions. In a case-control study, we selected 206 patients with IS who were consecutively discharged from Poursina Hospital in the north of Iran. The patients were compared with the control group comprised of 200 individuals who were referred to the Social Service Retirees Center in Rasht City. The comparison was made in terms of genetic variant BDNF Val66Met and also their scores in the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Third Edition (ACE-III). The patients compared with the control group were suffering from higher rates of global cognitive impairment. [F (1398) = 38.29, ή 2 = 0.09, P < 0.0001] and lower scores in domains of memory [F (1383) = 39.57, ή 2 = 0.094, P < 0.0001], language abilities [F (1383) = 27.05, ή 2 = 0.066, P < 0.0001], and visuospatial functions [F (1.383) = 9.54, ή 2 = 0.024, P = 0.002]. In addition, carriers of at least one Val allele were suffering from greater rates of global cognitive impairment than Met/Met homozygous [F (1398) = 12.41, ή 2 = 0.03, P < 0.0001], and their scores in the domains of attention [F (1383) = 13.43, ή 2 = 0.034, P < 0.0001] and language abilities were found to be lower than that of the control group [F (1383) = 11.73, ή 2 = 0.03, P = 0.001]. However, the interactive effects of BDNF Val66Met × groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The impairments are especially evident in domains of memory, language abilities, and visuospatial functions. Furthermore, there exists a relationship between the presence of at least one BDNF Val allele and impairment in the global cognitive functions, attention, and language domains. Nonetheless, BDNF Val66Met polymorphism does not seem to have a role in any specific cognitive impairment in IS patients.

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Acknowledgments

We are deeply grateful to the patients for their participation in this study, the staff of Clinical Research Development Center in Poursina Hospital, and the Social Service Retirees Center in the process of data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

    Sajjad Rezaei

  2. Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Neurology, Poursina Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

    Sajjad Rezaei, Alia Saberi, Mozaffar Hosseininezhad & Babak Bakhshayesh-Eghbali

  3. Guilan Academic Complex, Department of Psychology in Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Khalij Fars Highway, 5th KM of Qazvin Road, Rasht, 4199613776, Iran

    Sajjad Rezaei

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

    Karim Asgari-Mobarake

  5. Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

    Parvaneh Keshavarz & Hedyeh Fazel Tolami

  6. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

    Mahdiyeh Faraji Saravani

  7. Guilan Road Trauma Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

    Leila Kouchakinejad-Eramsadati

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  1. Sajjad Rezaei
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Correspondence to Sajjad Rezaei.

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The proposal draft was approved by the ethics committee and research council of Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) [No. 93031202, on Jun 2, 2014] (Keshavarz et al. 2016).

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Rezaei, S., Asgari-Mobarake, K., Keshavarz, P. et al. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Val66met (rs6265) Polymorphism Associated with Global and Multi-Domain Cognitive Impairment in Ischemic Stroke Patients. Act Nerv Super 59, 28–36 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41470-017-0001-4

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