Evaluation of Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Preliminary Data

Ob-jec-ti-ve: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has an important role in the survival, differentiation and synaptic plasticity of a series of neuronal systems including dopaminergic neurons. For this reason, it is proposed that BDNF plays a role in the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) pathophysiology. In this study, serum BDNF levels in children diagnosed with ADHD were compared with those in healthy subjects.Met-hods: 30 children diagnosed with ADHD and 31 healthy control subjects aged 6-12 years were recruited to the study. The psychiatric diagnoses were determined by applying a semi-structured interview using the Kiddies Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and serum BDNF levels of the subjects were measured. Both parents were asked to fill out the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for children 4-18 years of age. Re-sults: When ADHD cases and the controls were compared, no statistically significant difference was found in mean levels of serum BDNF (p=0.885). In ADHD cases, no statistically significant correlation was found between serum BDNF levels and ADHD subtypes (p=0.093). However, although there was no statistically significant difference, serum BDNF levels were found to be low in children diagnosed with attention deficit predominant type ADHD compared to children diagnosed with combined type ADHD. Conc-lu-si-on: This study does not support the hypothesis that BDNF plays a role in the etiology of ADHD. However, to interpret accurately the levels of BDNF, the factors that affect the levels, the reliable measurement source of the peripheral blood BDNF and its method must be enlightened. (Arc-hi-ves of Neu-ropsy-chi-atry 2012; 49: 96-101)