Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Reduces Long-Term Mortality in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease

Objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). We examined the effects of circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on long-term mortality in patients with CAD and CKD.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled patients with established CAD in the present study. Serum BDNF and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were assessed after overnight fasting. All-cause mortality served as the primary endpoint.

Results: All 348 enrolled patients were divided into four groups according to their median BDNF level and CKD status, defined according to eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m. Forty-five patients reached the primary endpoint during the median follow-up time of 6.0 years. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that the group with low BDNF and CKD had a significantly higher mortality rate than the other three groups (log-rank test < 0.001). Compared to the high BDNF without CKD group, the low BDNF with CKD group had a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.186 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.482-6.846] for all-cause mortality according to the multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis after adjusting for age and urine albumin-creatinine ratio ( = 0.003). Furthermore, there was a significantly interactive effect between BDNF and CKD status on the risk of the primary endpoint (odds ratio = 6.413, 95% CI: 1.497-27.47 in the multivariable logistic regression model and HR = 3.640, 95% CI: 1.006-13.173 in the Cox regression model).

Conclusion: We observed a synergistic effect between low serum BDNF levels and CKD on the prediction of all-cause mortality in patients with CAD.