Modifications in plasma levels of BDNF and BDNF gene polymorphisms in patients with OCD submitted to fear conditioning paradigm

• Grant number: 12/09648-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: August 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Belo Diniz
• Grantee: Karina Soares de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

It is believed that the physiopathology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with a deficiency in inhibitory neuronal processes and fear of extinction. In patients with OCD, it was found that plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are smaller than in healthy subjects and the allelic variant of the gene that encodes it, known as BDNF met66val, is associated with early-onset and severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and other phenotypic characteristics of this disorder. The expression of BDNF is essential to the mechanism of memory and learning, through processes related to neuronal plasticity and a possible relationship of the activity of BDNF and anxiety disorders, over its ability to promote learning of extinction of fear conditioning response. The project aims to assess the plasma levels of BDNF before and after the procedure of fear conditioning and verify whether these levels correlate to the retention of extinction learning after 24 hours. Besides, seven markers related to the BDNF gene will be surveyed, to evaluate their relationship to the presence or absence of OCD. Patients with OCD and control will be submitted to a process of extinction of fear conditioning and blood samples will be performed. Plasma levels of BDNF will be evaluated by ELISA and the seven markers will be genotyped by real-time PCR using the TaqMan system.(AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

REIMER, ADRIANO EDGAR; DE OLIVEIRA, AMANDA RIBEIRO; DINIZ, JULIANA BELO; HOEXTER, MARCELO QUEIROZ; CHIAVEGATTO, SILVANA; BRANDAO, MARCUS LIRA. Rats with differential self-grooming expression in the elevated plus-maze do not differ in anxiety-related behaviors. Behavioural Brain Research, v. 292, p. 370-380, OCT 1 2015. (12/09648-0, 11/21357-9, 11/00041-3, 11/00968-0)

KARINA SOARES DE OLIVEIRA; ANA GABRIELA HOUNIE; CAROLINA CAPPI; JULIANA BELO DINIZ. Aprendizado, aquisição e extinção de medo mediados pelo fator neurotrófico derivado do cérebro, como alvos para o desenvolvimento de novos tratamentos para ansiedade. Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, v. 65, n. 3, p. 251-261, 2016-09-00. (11/00968-0, 11/21357-9, 12/09648-0)