Val66Met BDNF polymorphism is associated with Parkinson's disease cognitive impairment

Vivian Altmann; Artur F Schumacher-Schuh; Mariana Rieck; Sidia M Callegari-Jacques; Carlos R M Rieder; Mara H Hutz

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2016.01.030

Val66Met BDNF polymorphism is associated with Parkinson's disease cognitive impairment

Neurosci Lett. 2016 Feb 26:615:88-91. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.01.030. Epub 2016 Jan 21.

Authors

Vivian Altmann¹, Artur F Schumacher-Schuh², Mariana Rieck¹, Sidia M Callegari-Jacques³, Carlos R M Rieder⁴, Mara H Hutz⁵

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
² Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Servico de Neurologia, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Estatística, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
⁴ Servico de Neurologia, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil.
⁵ Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 26806863
DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.01.030

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases worldwide. Besides characteristic PD motor features, the disease has important non-motor characteristics such as cognitive impairment. The role of genetic factors in cognitive impairment associated with PD is still unclear. In this study, we examined whether BDNF Val66Met was associated with impaired cognition in Parkinson's disease. One hundred and seventy five patients with a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease were included. Global cognitive abilities of the patients were measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Poisson Regression models were used to test for association between 66Met carriers and cognitive impairment controlling for covariates. Carriers of at least one BDNF 66Met allele presented a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment (p=0.005 RR=1.45 IC=95% [1.1-1.8]). These results suggest a role for BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on cognitive impairment in PD.

Keywords: BDNF; Cognitive impairment; Genetic susceptibility; Parkinson's disease.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / genetics*
Cognition Disorders / genetics*
Cognition Disorders / physiopathology
Female
Genetic Association Studies
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Parkinson Disease / genetics*
Parkinson Disease / physiopathology
Parkinson Disease / psychology
Polymorphism, Genetic

Substances

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
BDNF protein, human