Associations between serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, corticotropin releasing hormone and mental distress in vitiligo patients

Assiya A. Kussainova, Kassym Laura Talgatkyzy, Almira Akhmetova, E. V. Dvoryankova, Natalya Glushkova, Zaituna A. Khismetova, Saltanat M. Adilgozhina, Raikhan Tuleutayeva, Alida Kaskabayeva, Meruyert Massabayeva

2 more authors

Laura A. Pak, Yuliya M. Semenova

2022

Full text Open access: Gold Metadata (CSL-JSON)
DOI 10.1038/s41598-022-11028-8
Data confidence 70 medium
How this score is calculated

It is built from checkable properties of the record itself: whether the article has a DOI, how many independent sources confirmed its data, whether the required fields are filled in, and how recent the latest confirmation is. Disagreement between sources and a missing identifier lower it. A value of 80 or above means the record was published without further checking; 60 to 79 means it is published at reduced confidence, with a manual check advisable. A record verified by an editor by hand is never pushed below 90 by a recalculation. This scores our data about the article, not the article itself.

Abstract

Vitiligo is clinically characterized by the appearance of non-symptomatic depigmented macules, but the disorder is highly correlated with a wide range of psychiatric disorders and psychological problems. The aim of our study was to investigate serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) levels in vitiligo patients and healthy controls in relation to the observed symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. This study comprised 96 vitiligo patients and 96 healthy controls who filled out the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scales. Serum levels of BDNF and CRH were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. There was a significant increase of depression and anxiety scores in vitiligo patients as compared with healthy controls (P < 0.05). The serum levels of BDNF were significantly lower in vitiligo patients than in healthy individuals (Z = 4.002; P < 0.001), while the serum levels of CRH were markedly higher in cases than those in controls (Z = 3.764; P < 0.001). The significant positive correlations between serum CRH levels and GAD-7, PHQ-9 scores were observed. However, the aforementioned psychometric scales did not correlate significantly with serum BDNF level. Vitiligo is associated with the depression and is closely linked with lower BDNF levels.