Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026

A Phenotyping Regimen for Genetically Modified Mice Used to Study Genes Implicated in Human Diseases of Aging
Published on: July 14, 2016
No association between polymorphisms in the BDNF gene and age at onset in Huntington disease
Maren Mai1, Amer D Akkad, Stefan Wieczorek
1Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, 44780 Bochum, Germany. Maren-Mai@gmx.de
Background:
Recent evidence suggests that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an attractive candidate for modifying age at onset (AO) in Huntington disease (HD). In particular, the functional Val66Met polymorphism appeared to exert a significant effect. Here we evaluate BDNF variability with respect to AO of HD using markers that represent the entire locus.
Methods:
Five selected tagging polymorphisms were genotyped across a 65 kb region comprising the BDNF gene in a well established cohort of 250 unrelated German HD patients.
Results:
Addition of BDNF genotype variations or one of the marker haplotypes to the effect of CAG repeat lengths did not affect the variance of the AO.
Conclusion:
We were unable to verify a recently reported association between the functional Val66Met polymorphism in the BDNF gene and AO in HD. From our findings, we conclude that neither sequence variations in nor near the gene contribute significantly to the variance of AO.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Huntington Disease l: Introduction
Genetic Lingo
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase

