Association of a functional BDNF polymorphism and anxiety-related personality traits

Converging lines of evidence point to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a factor in the pathophysiology of depression. Recently, it was shown that the Val allele of the BDNF Val66Met substitution polymorphism showed a significant association with higher mean neuroticism scores of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) in healthy subjects, and previous studies suggested the Val allele to be increased in bipolar disorder families. The association to anxiety-related traits has not been investigated so far. We tested a total of 343 unrelated subjects of German descent (171 male, 172 female, age: 39.0+/-14.6 years) who were carefully screened for psychiatric health. The self-ratable State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which allows anxiety to be quantified as a comparatively stable personality trait, and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was applied. In the trait-related anxiety score, a significant (F=3.2, df=2, p