Abstract
Objective: A number of studies were conducted to investigate whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB) play a critical role in synaptic plasticity and memory in neuronal survival and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) pathophysiology. Biological mechanisms and relationships for PTSD diagnosis or etiology are lacking. Therefore, further investigation of the underlying biological mechanisms of PTSD is required. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between plasma CREB and BDNF levels and PTSD.
Methods: This study was designed to determine the association of CREB activity and BDNF concentration in peripheral blood of patients with or without PTSD. 50 drug-free patients with PTSD and 40 healthy control included to this study. All participants completed a form that included sociodemographic form, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDE), and the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES). In order to assess the severity of PTSD, the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) was administered to patients by researchers. Blood was drawn from the patients under appropriate conditions and CREB and BDNF were studied.
Results: The average age of participants were 31.94±8.86 and 41.1% (n=37) was female. There is a statistical difference between BNDF, CREB, BDI and DES values between the two groups (p value was 0.001, 0.023, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). There is no statistical difference between the trauma types for BDNF, and CREB (p value was 0.569 and 0.312, respectively).
Conclusion: We found that serum levels of BDNF and CREB were lower in PTSD patients as compared to control healthy subjects. We also demonstrated the strong correlation between serum BDNF and CREB levels in PTSD patients. BDNF and CREB levels did not change with trauma types in PTSD patients. Therefore, these results suggest that CREB and BDNF might be involved in pathophysiology of PTSD.

Key words: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF); cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB); Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Biomarker.