Bipolar disorder, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism and brain morphology.

In this study of the effect of bipolar status and presence of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on differences in regional brain volumes, we hypothesized based on previous studies that 1) bipolar subjects will have smaller regional brain volumes than healthy controls; 2) BDNF Met66 allele carriers within the same population are likely to have smaller regional brain volumes as compared to Val66 homozygyotes. In our Caucasian sample of 166 bipolar subjects and 64 gender-matched healthy controls, we found significant decreases in total (p = 0.005) and regional gray matter volumes in bipolar patients compared to healthy controls, more pronounced in the inferior and posterior parts of the brain, together with a concomitant increase in total CSF (p = 0.