Rationale
Converging lines of evidence point to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a factor in the pathophysiology of depression. Recently, it was shown that the Val allele of the BDNF Val66Met substitution polymorphism showed a significant association with higher mean neuroticism scores of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) in healthy subjects, and previous studies suggested the Val allele to be increased in bipolar disorder families. The association to anxiety-related traits has not been investigated so far.Methods
We tested a total of 343 unrelated subjects of German descent (171 male, 172 female, age: 39.0±14.6 years) who were carefully screened for psychiatric health. The self-ratable State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which allows anxiety to be quantified as a comparatively stable personality trait, and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was applied.Results
In the trait-related anxiety score, a significant (F=3.2, df=2, p<0.042) effect="" of="" the="" genotype="" was="" observed="" with="" higher="" levels="" of="" trait="" anxiety="" in="" val/val="" (35.0±7.4)="" compared="" to="" val/met="" (33.4±6.5)="" and="" met/met="" (32.0±4.6)="" genotypes.="" the="" neo="" neuroticism="" scores="" were="" also="" higher="" in="" val/val="" (29.5±7.0)="" than="" in="" val/met="" (28.4±6.5)="" or="" met/met="" (26.8±5.8)="" genotype,="" but="" not="" at="" a="" significant="">Conclusions
Our findings support the hypothesis that anxiety- and depression-related personality traits are associated with the BDNF polymorphism although the explained variance is low.Keywords Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) - Polymorphism - Healthy volunteers - Neuroticism - NEO-five factor inventory (NEO-FFI) - Anxiety - State and trait anxiety inventory (STAI)