Recently, an association between the C240T polymorphism in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and partial epilepsy was demonstrated in a Japanese population. In this study we attempted to replicate the initial finding in a patient-control population of European ancestry and in addition tested whether the functional Val66Met polymorphism is associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Genotypes of 151 TLE patients and 189 controls did not differ significantly for either of the variations. Results suggest that neither of the studied polymorphisms are strong susceptibility factors for TLE in this sample of individuals of European ancestry.