Serum Mature BDNF Level Is Associated with Remission Following ECT in Treatment-Resistant Depression.

The search for a biological marker predicting the future failure or success of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains highly challenging for patients with treatment-resistant depression. Evidence suggests that Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a protein known to be involved in brain plasticity mechanisms, can play a key role in both the clinical efficacy of ECT and the pathophysiology of depressive disorders. We hypothesized that mature BDNF (mBDNF), an isoform of BDNF involved in the neural plasticity and survival of neural networks, might be a good candidate for predicting the efficacy of ECT.

Neuroanatomical correlates of reality monitoring in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations.

Background: Reality-monitoring process enables to discriminate memories of internally generated information from memories of externally derived information. Studies have reported impaired reality-monitoring abilities in schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations (AHs), specifically with an exacerbated externalization bias, as well as alterations in neural activity within frontotemporoparietal areas. In healthy subjects, impaired reality-monitoring abilities have been associated with reduction of the paracingulate sulcus (PCS).

Frontotemporal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Decreases Serum Mature Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Schizophrenia.

Although transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) shows promise as a treatment for auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia, mechanisms through which tDCS may induce beneficial effects remain unclear. Evidence points to the involvement of neuronal plasticity mechanisms that are underpinned, amongst others, by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in its two main forms: pro and mature peptides. Here, we aimed to investigate whether tDCS modulates neural plasticity by measuring the acute effects of tDCS on peripheral mature BDNF levels in patients with schizophrenia.

Widespread transcriptional disruption of the microRNA biogenesis machinery in brain and peripheral tissues of individuals with schizophrenia.

In schizophrenia, altered transcription in brain and peripheral tissues may be due to altered expression of the microRNA biogenesis machinery genes. In this study, we explore the expression of these genes both at the cerebral and peripheral levels. We used shinyGEO application to analyze gene expression from ten Gene Expression Omnibus datasets, in order to perform differential expression analyses for eight genes encoding the microRNA biogenesis machinery.