Plasma BDNF and TrkB mRNA in PBMCs Are Correlated With Anti-depressive Effects of 12-Weeks Supervised Exercise During Protracted Methamphetamine Abstinence

Jue Yang; Jun Tan; Lan Zheng; Chun Xia Lu; Wen Qi Hou; Yi Liu; Qiu Fang Li; Jin Xiu Li; Dan Cheng; Xu Luo; Jun Zhang

doi:10.3389/fnmol.2020.00020

Plasma BDNF and TrkB mRNA in PBMCs Are Correlated With Anti-depressive Effects of 12-Weeks Supervised Exercise During Protracted Methamphetamine Abstinence

Front Mol Neurosci. 2020 Mar 6:13:20. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2020.00020. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jue Yang^{1

2}, Jun Tan¹, Lan Zheng¹, Chun Xia Lu¹, Wen Qi Hou¹, Yi Liu¹, Qiu Fang Li¹, Jin Xiu Li¹, Dan Cheng¹, Xu Luo³, Jun Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Physical Fitness and Exercise Rehabilitation of Hunan Province, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.
² Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
³ Hunan Judicial Police Vocational College, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential neurotrophic factors and expression of neurotrophin receptors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells linked with the antidepressant action of exercise intervention during protracted methamphetamine (METH) abstinence. Materials and Methods: A total of 72 male METH addicts, including 47 individuals with depression and 25 individuals without depression, were recruited in this study. Individuals with depression were divided into the depression control group and the depression exercised group. Consequently, 12 weeks of supervised exercise intervention was applied. Depression and anxiety were analyzed; plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neuronal growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), NT-4, and proBDNF levels were tested using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; the mRNA expressions of TrkA, TrkB-FL, TrkB-T1, TrkCB, and P75NTR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: NT-4 plasma levels were correlated with depression (r = -0.330, p = 0.005), which remained significant after Bonferroni correction. In addition, the BDNF and NT-3 levels in the plasma were significantly correlated with depression (r = -0.268, p = 0.023; r = -0.259, p = 0.028), but did not reach significance after Bonferroni correction. The BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4 plasma levels were significantly different between the depressive control group and the depressive exercise group using pre-exercise values as the covariate. The fold changes in TrkB-FL and TrkB-T1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells between the post-exercise and pre-exercise demonstrated a remarkable decrease (fold change = -11.056 and -39.055). Conclusions: Exercise intervention can alleviate depression and anxiety during protracted METH abstinence. Decrease in BDNF and the expression of TrkB in peripheral blood mononuclear cells occur following the exercise intervention.

Keywords: depression; exercise intervention; methamphetamine withdrawal; neurotrophin; neurotrophin receptor.