The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism modulates the effects of serious life events on impulsive aggression in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder

Introduction: A recent study reported the frequency of violent suicide attempts being higher in subjects reporting severe sexual abuse and carrying the BDNF Val/Val genotype. This finding might be of particular importance for studies in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), because up to 71 percent of BPD patients report the experience of severe childhood trauma and „self-injury/suicide attempts“ is an important diagnostic criterion for BPD. Methods: 159 BPD patients were included in the study. Impulsive aggression was assessed by the Buss-Durkee-Hostility Inventory (BDHI), SLEs by the PTSD-section included in the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI). We analyzed 1) modulating effects of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on the effects of SLEs on impulsive aggression, and 2) modulating effects of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on the association between SLEs and impulsive aggression in the subgroup of female BPD patients. Results/Discussion: Childhood sexual abuse explained a 28.6% increment in variance account of BDHI sum score in BDNF Val/Val carriers, as well as a 32.5% increment in variance account in female BDNF Val/Val carriers. The study analyzing a specific gene x environment interaction in BPD patients suggests an interaction between SLEs and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in the regulation of impulsive aggression in BPD patients, specifically in females.