High Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Negative Psychological Flexibility associate with Early Fatigue Syndrome in healthy females

BackgroundRecent studies showed that enhancing psychological flexibility could improve fatigue interference. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and Cortisol were proposed to involve biomarkers in psychological flexibility. Our study aims to explore the association of fatigue with psychological flexibility and related biomarkers. MethodA cross-sectional study gathered data from a baseline characteristic mindful volunteer. Each participant was self-evaluated with the questionnaire of fatigue and psychological flexibility. The participants were evaluated potential biomarkers related to psychological flexibility including HRV, serum cortisol, and BDNF within one week after responding to the questionnaire. ResultsThe 47 healthy females including 22 nurses and 25 occupational therapy students, mean age 29.70 {+/-} 12.55 years. The prevalence of fatigue is 38.30%. The multivariate analysis showed the independent factors associated with fatigue including negative psychological flexibility (OR 1.31, p=0.03) and high BDNF (OR 1.33, p=0.05). ConclusionOur study found that psychological flexibility and high BDNF was independent factors associate with fatigue. This result provide insight that intervention that increase either psychological flexibility may prevent fatigue symptoms. The high BDNF may reflex the adaptive response of fatigue person and may be potential biomarkers for detecting early fatigue conditions.