Association of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism with both baseline HRQOL scores and improvement in HRQOL scores in Chinese major depressive patients treated with fluoxetine.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of brain-derived neurotrophic-factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism with both baseline health related quality of life (HRQOL) scores and improvement in HRQOL scores in Chinese major depressive patients treated with fluoxetine.

METHODS: Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) took fluoxetine (20 mg/day) for 6 weeks. The HRQOL was measured with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) at baseline and at 6th week. Patients were genotyped for Val66Met polymorphism of BDNF gene.

RESULTS: There was a significant association between social function (SF) and BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, and patients with Met/Met genotype had better SF (compared with Val/Val P = 0.004; compared with Val/Met P = 0.005). A significant association was found between improvement in SF and BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, and patients with Met/Met genotype had poorer improvement in SF (compared with Val/Val P = 0.010; compared with Val/Met P = 0.001). Similar association was found between improvement in mental component summary (MCS) and BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, and patients with Met/Met genotype had poorer improvement in MCS (compared with Val/Val P = 0.066; compared with Val/Met P = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that there may be association between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and both baseline HRQOL (SF) scores and improvement in HRQOL (SF, MCS) scores in Chinese major depressive patients treated with fluoxetine.