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An association study between the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene and postpartum depression

Archives of Women's Mental Health volume 13, pages 285–289 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Postpartum depression disorder (PPD) is a severe illness affecting around 15% of deliveries. Several evidences suggest that PPD is, at least, partially genetic determined. The gene encoding BDNF is a strong candidate for pathogenesis of PPD since that it has been observed decrease of serum BDNF in patients suffering from PPD. The gene encoding BDNF has a polymorphism (Val66Met) that alters the regulated protein secretion; the methionine variant being associated with insufficient secretion compared with the Valine variant. We hypothesized that BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism could be associated with PPD. We assessed 227 subjects randomly selected who had delivery at a maternity hospital using EPDS. Differences in genotype frequency were calculated by χ 2 test. Logistic Regression Analyses was performed to verify the existence of interaction between biological, psychiatric and environmental variables and PPD. Difference between groups was tested with Student’s t test. Tests were two-tailed and results significant when p ≤ 0.05. No difference in BDNF genotype distribution was observed between the depressed and non-depressed women. Educational level, stress during pregnancy, bipolar disorder and anxiety was strongly associated with PPD. We were not able to show an association between BDNF polymorphisms and PPD. Further studies are necessary to both of confirm our results and improve validity of PPD diagnosis.

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Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neuroscience, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Patrícia Figueira, Leandro Malloy-Diniz, Simone B. Campos, Débora M. Miranda, Marco Aurélio Romano-Silva, Luiz De Marco & Humberto Correa

  2. Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Leandro Malloy-Diniz

  3. Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Marco Aurélio Romano-Silva, Fernando S. Neves & Humberto Correa

  4. Psychiatric Unit, Hospital das Clinicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Marco Aurélio Romano-Silva, Fernando S. Neves & Humberto Correa

  5. Departamento de Saúde Mental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Alfredo Balena, 190, ZIP: 30.130-100, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Humberto Correa

Authors
  1. Patrícia Figueira
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  2. Leandro Malloy-Diniz
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  3. Simone B. Campos
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  4. Débora M. Miranda
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  5. Marco Aurélio Romano-Silva
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  6. Luiz De Marco
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  7. Fernando S. Neves
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  8. Humberto Correa
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Correspondence to Humberto Correa.

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Figueira, P., Malloy-Diniz, L., Campos, S.B. et al. An association study between the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene and postpartum depression. Arch Womens Ment Health 13, 285–289 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-010-0146-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-010-0146-6

Keywords

  • Postpartum depression
  • VAL66MET
  • BDNF
  • Association study