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. 2021 Mar;18(3):187-195.
doi: 10.30773/pi.2020.0295. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

The Mediating Effect of Psychological Distress on the Association between BDNF, 5-HTTLPR, and Tinnitus Severity

Jo-Eun Jeong  1 , Sekye Jeon  2 , Jae Sang Han  3 , Eun Young Cho  4 , Kyung Sue Hong  5 , Shi Nae Park  3 , Jung Jin Kim  6
Affiliations

The Mediating Effect of Psychological Distress on the Association between BDNF, 5-HTTLPR, and Tinnitus Severity

Jo-Eun Jeong et al. Psychiatry Investig. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and tinnitus, and the mediating effects of psychological distress on this association.

Methods: Eighty-six patients experiencing tinnitus and 252 controls were recruited. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory was used to assess the severity of tinnitus and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory-II (BAI-II), and the Korean version of the Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument (BEPSI-K) were used to assess psychological distress. We compared the association of BDNF rs6265 (Val66Met) and 5-HTTLPR variants in the two groups. The mediating effects of BDI-II, BAI-II, and BEPSI-K were examined using multiple regression analysis and validated by the Sobel test and bootstrapping.

Results: No significant differences were found between the groups regarding BDNF Val66Met and 5-HTTLPR, but the 5-HTTLPR variants trended toward association. Depressive symptoms appeared to act as a mediator on the relationship within the 5-HTTLPR s/s genotype and the severity of tinnitus.

Conclusion: Our findings provide a speculative idea on the association between the serotonergic system and tinnitus and suggest that depressive symptoms act as a mediator in tinnitus. Therefore, screening for depressive symptoms in patients with tinnitus is essential and intervention for depressive symptoms may help alleviate the severity of tinnitus.

Keywords: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Depression; Genetic association studies; Serotonin plasma membrane transporter proteins; Tinnitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Genotype analyses of BDNF Val66Met and 5-HTTLPR. A: BDNF Val66Met (rs6265). B: 5-HTTLPR.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Diagram of paths in the hypothesized mediation model. A: Unmediated model. B: Mediation model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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