Little is known about biological predictors of treatment response in
panic disorder. Our previous studies show that the
brain-derived neurotrophic factor (
BDNF) may play a role in the pathophysiology of
major depressive disorders and
eating disorders. Assuming that
BDNF may be implicated in the putative common etiologies of depression and anxiety, the authors examined serum
BDNF levels of the patients with
panic disorder, and its correlation with therapeutic response to group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Group CBT (10 consecutive 1 h weekly sessions) was administered to the patients with
panic disorder after consulting the panic outpatient special service. Before treatment, serum concentrations of
BDNF and total
cholesterol were measured.
After treatment, we defined response to
therapy as a 40% reduction from baseline on
Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) score as described by [Barlow, D.H., Gorman, J.M., Shear, M.K., Woods, S.W., 2000. Cognitive-behavioral therapy,
imipramine, or their combination for
panic disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 283, 2529-2536]. There were 26 good responders and 16 poor responders. 31 age- and sex-matched healthy normal control subjects were also recruited in this study. The serum
BDNF levels of the patients with poor response (25.9 ng/ml [S.D. 8.7]) were significantly lower than those of the patients with good response (33.7 ng/ml [S.D. 7.5]). However, there were no significant differences in both groups of the patients, compared to the normal controls (29.1 ng/ml [S.D. 7.1]). No significant differences of other variables including total
cholesterol levels before treatment were detected between good responders and poor responders. These results suggested that
BDNF might contribute to therapeutic response of
panic disorder. A potential link between an increased risk of secondary depression and
BDNF remains to be investigated in the future.