Genotyping BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism

Saliva derived Human DNA samples were diluted to a working concentration and genotyped for the rs6265 (C_000011. 10:g.27658369C.T) SNP in the BDNF gene using TaqMan SNP genotyping assay C_115 92758_10 (Applied Biosystems). Individual allele determinations were made using TaqMan Genotyping Master Mix (Life Technologies, Catalog 4371357) with amplification on a GeneAmp 9700 (Applied Biosystems) and analyzing the endpoint fluorescence using a Tecan M200 and JMP 10.0 (SAS, Inc.). Call rate for the BDNF Val66Met genotype was 100% (206/206). The majority of adolescents had the Val/Val genotype (N=152), followed by the Val/Met genotype (N=48), and the Met/Met genotype (N=6). Consistent with other investigations of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism (e.g., Gunnar et al., 2012 (link); Hariri et al., 2003 (link)) and functional differences across genotypes (Soltész et al., 2014 ), the Met/Met and Val/Met genotypes were collapsed into an any Met allele group. The genotype distribution for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (χ²(1)=.83, ns). There were no differences in race/ethnicity by genotype χ²(6)=10.88, ns).