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. 2023 Oct 9:15:1244191.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1244191. eCollection 2023.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene polymorphism affects cognitive function and neurofilament light chain level in patients with subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia

Xiaojuan Yao  1 , Guotao Yang  1   2 , Tingting Fang  1 , Zhuo Tian  1 , Yunyao Lu  1 , Feifan Chen  1 , Ping Che  1 , Jingshan Chen  1 , Nan Zhang  1
Affiliations

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene polymorphism affects cognitive function and neurofilament light chain level in patients with subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia

Xiaojuan Yao et al. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene polymorphism on cognitive function, neuroimaging and blood biological markers in patients with subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia (SIVD).

Methods: A total of 81 patients with SIVD were included. According to their BDNF gene polymorphism, the participants were divided into the Val/Val (n = 26), Val/Met (n = 35), and Met/Met (n = 20) groups. A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation and multimodal brain MRI scan were performed. MRI markers for small vessel disease were visually rated or quantitatively analysed. Moreover, 52 patients were further evaluated with blood marker assays, including amyloid beta (Aβ), phosphorylated tau at threonine-181 (P-tau181), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), total tau (T-tau) and neurofilament light chain (NfL).

Results: There were no significant differences in demographics, disease duration or MRI markers of small vessel disease between the three groups. Compared with the Val/Val and Val/Met groups, the Met/Met group showed worse performance in the verbal fluency test and higher levels of plasma NfL.

Conclusion: The rs6265 polymorphism of the BDNF gene is associated with semantic language fluency in patients with SIVD. The Met genotype may be a risk factor for cognitive impairment and neuronal injury.

Keywords: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; cognitive function; neurofilament light chain; polymorphism; small vessel disease; subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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