Research Article Correlation between Peripheral Levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Hippocampal Volume in Children and Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder Tatiana Lauxen Peruzzolo, 1 Mauricio Anes, 2 Andre de Moura Kohmann, 1 Ana Claudia Mércio Loredo Souza, 1 Ramiro Borges Rodrigues, 1 Juliana Basso Brun, 1 Roberta Peters, 1 Bianca Wollenhaupt de Aguiar, 3 Flavio Kapczinski, 4,5 Silzá Tramontina, 1 Luis Augusto Paim Rohde, 1,6,7 and Cristian Patrick Zeni 1,8 1 Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Outpatient Program (ProCAB), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 90035-903 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 2 Hospital de Cl´ ınicas de Porto Alegre, Division of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, 90035-903 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 3 Bipolar Disorder Unit, Molecular Psychiatry Unit and National Institute for Translational Medicine, CNPq., 90035-903 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 4 Federal University, UFRGS, 90035-903 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 5 UTHealth, Houston, TX 77030, USA 6 ADHD Outpatient Program (PRODAH), UFRGS, 90035-903 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 7 National Science and Technology Institute for Children and Adolescents, 05403-010 S˜ ao Paulo, SP, Brazil 8 University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Cristian Patrick Zeni; cpzeni@gmail.com Received 18 August 2014; Revised 6 November 2014; Accepted 27 December 2014 Academic Editor: Ben´ ıcio N. Frey Copyright © 2015 Tatiana Lauxen Peruzzolo et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) is a serious mental disorder that afects the development and emotional growth ofafected patients. he brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is recognized as one of the possible markers of the framework and its evolution. Abnormalities in BDNF signaling in the hippocampus could explain the cognitive decline seen in patients with TB. Our aim with this study was to evaluate possible changes in hippocampal volume in children and adolescents with BD and associate them to serum BDNF. Subjects included 30 patients aged seven to seventeen years from the ProCAB (Program for Children and Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder). We observed mean right and let hippocampal volumes of 41910.55 and 41747.96 mm 3 , respectively. No statistically signiicant correlations between peripheral BDNF levels and hippocampal volumes were found. We believe that the lack of correlation observed in this study is due to the short time of evolution of BD in children and adolescents. Besides studies with larger sample sizes to conirm the present indings and longitudinal assessments, addressing brain development versus a control group and including drug-naive patients in diferent mood states may help clarify the role of BDNF in the brain changes consequent upon BD. 1. Introduction Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental disorder character- ized by mood swings during which a person has distinct peri- ods of impairing elevated (mania) or decreased (depression) mood and energy [1]. It occurs in approximately 0.4 to 1.6% of adults and in 1% in children and adolescents [2, 3]. In the early-age onset presentation (pediatric bipolar disorder, PBD), diiculties in interpersonal relationships, academic functioning, and negative outcomes such as multiple hospi- talizations and high rates of suicide attempts are observed [4, 5]. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Neural Plasticity Volume 2015, Article ID 324825, 7 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/324825