Associations between brain‐derived neurotrophic factor and cognitive impairment in panic disorder

INTRODUCTION: Our study was designed to examine the relationship between Brain‐Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) genotypes (rs6265, Val66Met), BDNF plasma levels, and cognitive impairment in Chinese patients with panic disorder (PD). METHODS: Total 85 patients with PD and 91 healthy controls finally completed all assessments. The severity of panic symptoms and whole anxiety of PD was measured by Panic Disorder Severity Scale–Chinese Version (PDSS‐CV) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA‐14). Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and some neurocognitive measures were conducted to evaluate the cognitive performance. All participants were detected for the plasma BDNF levels and BDNF Val66Met polymorphism before assessment and treatment. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the BDNF allele frequencies and the BDNF genotype distributions between healthy controls and PD patients. BDNF Met/Met genotype was associated with lower BDNF plasma levels in PD patients, and PD patients with BDNF Met/Met genotype had the lower scores in the attention and speed of processing domains compared to those with Val/Val and Met/Val genotype (p's < .05). Among PD patients, the BDNF plasma levels showed moderate positive correlations with Stroop interference (r = .60, p < .001). Using the MoCA data, the BDNF plasma levels were correlated with delayed memory (r = .50, p < .001), verbal learning (r = .45, p < .001), and total scores of MoCA (r = .51, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The BDNF Met/Met genotype may be associated with lower BDNF plasma levels and cognitive impairments in PD patients.