Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels and psychotic symptoms in heroin dependence

ObjectivesPsychotic symptoms are commonly observed among heroin users. Low serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels have been reported in schizophrenia and psychosis; however, studies assessing the relationship between serum BDNF levels and psychotic symptoms in heroin dependence are lacking.MethodA total of 31 heroin-dependent patients who had never experienced psychotic symptoms during heroin consumption and 21 patients with a history of psychotic symptoms were consecutively recruited. We measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) serum BDNF levels during early abstinence. A gender- and age-matched sample of healthy controls was also recruited and underwent measurement of BDNF.ResultsBDNF levels were significantly lower in patients with psychotic symptoms than in those without psychotic symptoms (P < 0.001). BDNF levels were not found to be correlated with sex, age, age of onset, duration of heroin use, average daily dose of heroin use, frequency of heroin use, SDS scores, BAI scores and BDI scores in the psychotic subsamples (all P > 0.05).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that heroin-dependent patients with psychotic symptoms share some of the neurotrophic insult that characterizes schizophrenia and psychosis.