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Review
. 2014 Jan 16:12:7.
doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-12-7.

Interaction between stress and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Georgina M Hosang  1 , Celia Shiles, Katherine E Tansey, Peter McGuffin, Rudolf Uher
Affiliations
Review

Interaction between stress and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Georgina M Hosang et al. BMC Med. .

Abstract

Background: Major depression is a disabling psychiatric illness with complex origins. Life stress (childhood adversity and recent stressful events) is a robust risk factor for depression. The relationship between life stress and Val66Met polymorphism in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene has received much attention. The aim of the present work was to review and conduct a meta-analysis on the results from published studies examining this interaction.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using PsychINFO and PubMed databases until 22 November 2013. A total of 22 studies with a pooled total of 14,233 participants met the inclusion criteria, the results of which were combined and a meta-analysis performed using the Liptak-Stouffer z-score method.

Results: The results suggest that the Met allele of BDNF Val66Met significantly moderates the relationship between life stress and depression (P = 0.03). When the studies were stratified by type of environmental stressor, the evidence was stronger for an interaction with stressful life events (P = 0.01) and weaker for interaction of BDNF Val66Met with childhood adversity (P = 0.051).

Conclusions: The interaction between BDNF and life stress in depression is stronger for stressful life events rather than childhood adversity. Methodological limitations of existing studies include poor measurement of life stress.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of studies considered for inclusion. This flow diagram depicts each step in the process of study selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot for included studies examining the interaction between the Met variant of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF ) gene and life stress in depression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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