Genetic predisposition of BDNF (rs6265) gene is susceptible to Schizophrenia: A prospective study and updated meta-analysis

Introduction

Genetic polymorphism in the BDNF gene has been found to cause neuronal alterations and has been identified as a causal factor for many neuropsychiatric disorders. Therefore, various neurological case–control studies and meta-analyses have been conducted to find the possible link between BDNF and susceptibility to schizophrenia.

Method

This meta-analysis gathered data from 25 case–control studies including a total of 8384 patients with schizophrenia and 8821 controls in order to identify the relationship between the rs6265 single nucleotide polymorphism and the disease, evaluating the combined odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals under 5 different genetic models. Validation followed the “Leave one out” method, and we used the Egger test and Begg's funnel plot to identify publication bias.

Results

Research into the rs6265 (G/A) polymorphism revealed a non-significant association with schizophrenia in all 5 genetic models; in the subgroup analysis, no association was found between white and Asian populations, with a p value > .05.

Conclusions

Overall, the updated meta-analysis revealed that rs6265 exonic polymorphisms do not increase susceptibility to this disease. However, to better understand the pathogenesis of the disease, there is a need for further case–control studies into the BDNF polymorphism including larger sample sizes and different ethnic groups.