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Symptom Dimensional Approach and BDNF in Unmedicated Obsessive-Compulsive Patients: An Exploratory Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2011

Igor Marcanti dos Santos ,
Leandro Ciulla ,
Daniela Braga ,
Keila Maria Ceresér ,
Clarissa Severino Gama ,
Flávio Kapczinski  and
Ygor Arzeno Ferrão
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Abstract

Introduction

The dimensional approach of the obsessive-compulsive symptoms may help to find more homogeneous groups of patients. The brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may help to identify neurobiological differences between obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions.

Methods

We compared serum BDNF (pg/μg) levels of 25 unmedicated patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD) and 25 controls, using the Dimensional Yale‐Brown Obsessive‐Compulsive Scale, the Yale‐Brown Obsessive‐Compulsive Scale and the Beck's Anxiety and Depression Inventories.

Results

There were no sociodemographic differences between the groups. The standard error of mean serum BDNF levels were reduced in unmedicated OCD patients (0.47+0.038) when compared to healthy controls (0.75+0.060) (P<.001). The patients with the presence of sex/religion obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) dimension (P=.002), with chronic course of OCS (P=.022) and the presence of lifetime major depression (P=.016) and social anxiety (P=.030) presented higher levels of BDNF than OCD patients without those features. The severity of aggression (P=.039) and sex/religion (P<.001) OCS dimension presented direct (moderate and strong, respectively) correlation with serum BDNF levels in this sample. Serum BDNF levels were decreased in OCD patients when compared to healthy controls.

Discussion/Conclusion

Sexual and religious content of symptoms and aggression and sex/religion dimensions severity should be better explored, since these specific OCS dimensions could be based on neurocircuits diverse from those of the other OCS dimensions.

Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 16 , Issue 9 , September 2011 , pp. 179 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

Faculty Disclosures: Dr. Santos, Dr. Ciulla and Dr. Braga reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Dr. Gama has been a paid speaker for AstraZeneca. Dr. Kapczinski reports research funding from Dr. Ferrão has been a paid speaker for Wieth, Ely Lilly, Solvay Pharma and Roche Laboratories. This work had financial supported from Fundação de Incentivo à Pesquisa of Hospital das Clínicas de Porto Alegre (FIPE-HCPA). Dr. Gama reports grant/research support from Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) (processes 305967/2008-8 and 477974/2009-0) from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), from FIPE–HCPA, and Endeavour Award. Dr. Ceresér reports research grant from CNPq (process number, 473424/2009-6).

Acknowledgements: Drs. dos Santos and Ciulla contributed equally to the final manuscript. None of the institutions above had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

References

Faculty Disclosures: Dr. Santos, Dr. Ciulla and Dr. Braga reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Dr. Gama has been a paid speaker for AstraZeneca. Dr. Kapczinski reports research funding from Dr. Ferrão has been a paid speaker for Wieth, Ely Lilly, Solvay Pharma and Roche Laboratories. This work had financial supported from Fundação de Incentivo à Pesquisa of Hospital das Clínicas de Porto Alegre (FIPE-HCPA). Dr. Gama reports grant/research support from Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) (processes 305967/2008-8 and 477974/2009-0) from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), from FIPE–HCPA, and Endeavour Award. Dr. Ceresér reports research grant from CNPq (process number, 473424/2009-6).

Acknowledgements: Drs. dos Santos and Ciulla contributed equally to the final manuscript. None of the institutions above had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.