EXPRESSION OF SERUM BDNF IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND ITS CORRELATION WITH COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND CLINICAL EFFICACY

Chunpeng Fu^*, Liang Zhou, Chunxia Fu

The Third People’s Hospital of Shangrao, Shangrao 334000, PR China

Objective: To analyze the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in patients with schizophrenia and its correlation with cognitive function and clinical efficacy.

Methods: From March 2018 to February 2020, 68 schizophrenic patients hospitalized in our psychiatric department were selected as the study group, and 68 healthy subjects who had a physical examination in the hospital at the same time were selected as the control group. Patients in the study group were given aripiprazole treatment, all patients were treated for two weeks continuously, and electroconvulsive therapy was prohibited during the treatment. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the serum BDNF level. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) results and Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) scores of the study group before and after treatment were compared. The Pearson correlation test was used to analyze the correlation between serum BDNF level and cognitive function, using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Results: Compared to the control group, the level of BDNF in the study group was significantly lower before treatment (P<0.05); and after treatment, the level of BDNF was significantly increased (P<0.05). After treatment, the number of completed classification and PSP scores of the study group significantly increased, and the number of wrong answers, the number of persistent errors, self-care, socially beneficial activities, disturbance and aggressive behavior, and personal and social relations were significantly decreased (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the number of non-persistent errors (P>0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a significant negative correlation between PANSS and PSP total score, BDNF change, and BDNF level after treatment. The PANSS score reduction rate and PSP amplitude were significantly and positively correlated, and the number of completed classification was significantly negatively correlated with the number of wrong answers and persistent errors (P<0.05). There was no significant correlation among other indicators (P>0.05).

Conclusion: The level of serum BDNF in schizophrenic patients was significantly lower than that in the control subjects, and there was significant cognitive impairment. Serum BDNF level was significantly related to the clinical efficacy of patients, which can be used as an important indicator for the diagnosis of patients' conditions.