Influence of BDNF Val66Met On The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Brain Volume

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between habitual physical activity levels and brain temporal lobe volumes, and the interaction with the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66- Met polymorphism. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of 114 cognitively healthy men and women aged 60 years and older. Brain volumes quantified by MRI were correlated with self-reported physical activity levels. The effect of the interaction between physical activity and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on brain structure volumes was assessed. Post hoc analyses were completed to evaluate the influence of the APOE e4 allele on any found associations. Results: The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism interacted with physical activity to be associated with hippocampal (b 5 20.22, p 5 0.02) and temporal lobe (b 5 20.28, p 5 0.003) volumes. In Val/Val homozygotes, higher levels of physical activity were associated with larger hippocampal and temporal lobe volumes, whereas in Met carriers, higher levels of physical activity were associated with smaller temporal lobe volume. Conclusion: The findings from this study support higher physical activity levels in the potential attenuation of age- And disease-related hippocampal and temporal lobe volume loss in Val/Val homozygotes.

Keywords

apolipoprotein E4; brain derived neurotrophic factor; methionine; valine; apolipoprotein E2; brain derived neurotrophic factor; brain-derived neurotrophic factor, human; adult; allele; Article; brain size; cross-sectional study; DNA polymorphism; female; genetic association; genotype environment interaction; hippocampus; homozygote; human; human experiment; male; metabolic equivalent; neuroanatomy; normal human; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; physical activity; priority journal; self report; temporal lobe; aged; anatomy and histology; genetics; middle aged; motor activity; neuroimaging; single nucleotide polymorphism; Aged; Apolipoprotein E2; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Hippocampus; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Activity; Neuroimaging; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Temporal Lobe

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2014

Faculty

Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science

Publisher

Lippincott Williams and Wilkins

School

School of Medical Sciences / Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care

RAS ID

18688

Comments

Brown, B. M., Bourgeat, P., Peiffer, J., Burnham, S., Laws, S. , Rainey-Smith, S. R., Bartres-Faz, D., Villemagne, V., Taddei, K. , Rembach, A., Bush, A., Ellis, K., Macaulay, S., Rowe, C., Ames, D., Masters, C., Maruff, P., & Martins, R. N. (2014). Influence of BDNF Val66Met on the relationship between physical activity and brain volume. Neurology, 83(15), 1345-52. Available here

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1212/WNL.0000000000000867