Putative Blood Somatic Mutations in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-Symptomatic Soldiers: High Impact of Cytoskeletal and Inflammatory Proteins

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1723-1734
Author(s):  
Shlomo Sragovich ◽  
Michael Gershovits ◽  
Jacqueline C.K. Lam ◽  
Victor O.K. Li ◽  
Illana Gozes
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Somatic Mutations ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Ptsd Symptom ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Brain

Background: We recently discovered autism/intellectual disability somatic mutations in postmortem brains, presenting higher frequency in Alzheimer’s disease subjects, compared with the controls. We further revealed high impact cytoskeletal gene mutations, coupled with potential cytoskeleton-targeted repair mechanisms. Objective: The current study was aimed at further discerning if somatic mutations in brain diseases are presented only in the most affected tissue (the brain), or if blood samples phenocopy the brain, toward potential diagnostics. Methods: Variant calling analyses on an RNA-seq database including peripheral blood samples from 85 soldiers (58 controls and 27 with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD) was performed. Results: High (e.g., protein truncating) as well as moderate impact (e.g., single amino acid change) germline and putative somatic mutations in thousands of genes were found. Further crossing the mutated genes with autism, intellectual disability, cytoskeleton, inflammation, and DNA repair databases, identified the highest number of cytoskeletal-mutated genes (187 high and 442 moderate impact). Most of the mutated genes were shared and only when crossed with the inflammation database, more putative high impact mutated genes specific to the PTSD-symptom cohorts versus the controls (14 versus 13) were revealed, highlighting tumor necrosis factor specifically in the PTSD-symptom cohorts. Conclusion: With microtubules and neuro-immune interactions playing essential roles in brain neuroprotection and Alzheimer-related neurodegeneration, the current mutation discoveries contribute to mechanistic understanding of PTSD and brain protection, as well as provide future diagnostics toward personalized military deployment strategies and drug design.

Evidence of diffuse damage in frontal and occipital cortex in the brain of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maricla Tavanti ◽  
Marco Battaglini ◽  
Federico Borgogni ◽  
Letizia Bossini ◽  
Sara Calossi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Levels of biogenic amines in the brain of rats at experimental post-traumatic stress disorder development

2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 806-810
Author(s):  
R V Deev ◽  
Yu M Shatrova ◽  
A I Sinitskiy ◽  
N S Molchanova ◽  
A K Yunusova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Acid Level ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Behavioral Activity ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Brain

Aim. To study the changes in levels of biogenic amines-neurotransmitters in the brain at experimental post-traumatic stress disorder development in rats. Methods. Post-traumatic stress disorder was modeled by keeping 48 outbred male rats in under constant and inescapable strong unconditioned stimulus. The control group included 16 intact animals, not exposed to stress influences. The levels of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine and gamma-aminobutyric acid were determined by fluorometric methods. Behavioral activity of animals was evaluated on the day 3, 7, 10 and 14 by «open field» and «elevated plus maze» actinographs. Results. When comparing the concentrations of studied neurotransmitters in the brain of control animals with experimental groups, reflecting the development of post-traumatic stress disorder at the time, adrenaline and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine levels were increased on the third day, level of norepinephrine was reduced on the seventh day, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, dopamine, norepinephrine levels were elevaled, gamma-aminobutyric acid level was reduced on the tenth day, gamma-aminobutyric acid level was increased on the fourteenth day after the stress. Conclusion. According to the results of the correlation analysis, the largest contribution to the development of behavioral disorders are made by altered brain level of gamma-aminobutyric acid at the time of post-traumatic stress disorder formation (tenth and fourteenth day). At the earlier stages (third and seventh day), the relationship of rats behavioral activity and altered 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine and norepinephrine brain levels was shown.

scholarly journals Transgenerational effects of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda: A post-traumatic stress disorder symptom domain analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Susan Rudahindwa ◽  
Leon Mutesa ◽  
Eugene Rutembesa ◽  
Jean Mutabaruka ◽  
Annie Qu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Ptsd Symptom ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Transgenerational Effects ◽  
Symptom Domains ◽  
Post Traumatic

Background: A number of studies have investigated transgenerational effects of parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its repercussions for offspring. Few studies however, have looked at this issue in the African context. Methods: The present study addresses this gap by utilizing a Pearson correlation matrix to investigate symptom severity within the three Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) PTSD symptom domains in mothers exposed to the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (n=25) and offspring (n=25), and an ethnically matched set of controls (n=50) who were outside of Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. All mothers were pregnant with the offspring included in the study during the time of the genocide. Results: Total PTS score was significantly (p<0.01) correlated with each of the three symptom domains at various strengths in both cases and controls. No significant differences in association of total PTS score and PTSD symptom domains were observed between exposed mothers and offspring, suggesting that each symptom domain contributed equivalently to both exposed mothers and offspring distress. In contrast, the re-experiencing symptom domain showed a significant difference in correlation to overall PTS score in non-exposed mothers compared to their offspring (p<0.05), with mothers showing a significantly higher correlation. Furthermore, the correlation between avoidance/numbing symptoms to overall PTS was significantly different (p≤0.01) across exposed and non-exposed mothers. As a secondary analysis, we explored the relationship between DNA methylation in the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) locus, an important stress modulating gene, and PTSD symptom domains, finding an association between DNA methylation and re-experiencing among genocide-exposed mothers that exceeded any other observed associations by approximately two-fold.  Conclusions: This is the first report, to our knowledge, of a symptom-based analysis of transgenerational transmission of PTSD in sub-Saharan Africa. These findings can be leveraged to inform further mechanistic and treatment research for PTSD.

scholarly journals Network Models of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adela-Maria Isvoranu ◽  
Sacha Epskamp ◽  
Mike W.-L. Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Network Model ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Ptsd Symptom ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Study Heterogeneity ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Network Studies

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) researchers have increasingly used psychological network models to investigate PTSD symptom interactions, as well as to identify central driver symptoms. It is unclear, however, how generalizable such results are. We have developed a meta-analytic framework for aggregating network studies while taking between-study heterogeneity into account, and applied this framework to the first-ever meta-analytic study of network models. We analyzed the correlational structures of 52 different samples with a total sample size of n = 29,561, and estimated a single pooled network model underlying the datasets, investigated the scope of between-study heterogeneity, and assessed the performance of network models estimated from single studies. Our main findings are that: (1) While several clear symptom-links and interpretable clusters can be identified in the network, most symptoms feature very similar levels of centrality. To this end, aiming to identify central symptoms in PTSD symptom networks may not be fruitful. (2) We identified large between-study heterogeneity, indicating that it should be expected for networks of single studies to not perfectly align with one-another, and meta-analytic approaches are vital for the study of PTSD networks. (3) Nonetheless, we found evidence that networks estimated from single studies may give rise to generalizable results, as our results aligned with previous descriptive analyses of reported network studies, and network models estimated from single samples lead to similar network structures as the pooled network model. We discuss the implications of these findings for both the PTSD literature as well as methodological literature on network psychometrics.

Hormonal Contraception and the Brain: Examining Cognition and Psychiatric Disorders

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-131
Author(s):  
Stephanie Laird ◽  
Luke J. Ney ◽  
Kim L. Felmingham ◽  
Andrea Gogos
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Oral Contraceptive Pill ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Brain

Background: The combined oral contraceptive pill (OC), containing synthetic estrogens and progestins, is used by millions of women worldwide, yet little is known about its effects on cognition or on psychiatric disorders. The progestin component of OCs determines their androgenicity, i.e. whether the OC has androgen binding components with masculinising effects or antiandrogenic components with feminising effects. Objective: The present review discusses the literature surrounding OC use and cognition in healthy women. Given the important role that sex hormones play in psychiatric disorders, we also consider the influence of OCs on symptoms of schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and indirectly, sleep quality. Results: Research has shown that while there are no differences between OC users and non-users, androgenic OCs enhance visuospatial ability and anti-androgenic OCs enhance verbal fluency. Little is known about OCs effects on other cognitive domains, such as memory and executive function. There is little research examining OC use in schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders. There is some evidence that OC use is associated with depression, however the exact causality of this association remains to be verified. Conclusion: We maintain that future studies need to address several methodological limitations, such as separating OCs based on androgenicity to avoid the masking effects that occur when various OCs are considered as one group. As this review highlights several significant effects of OC use on the brain, the implications of OC use needs to be considered in future research.

scholarly journals Prolonged exposure therapy and supportive counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder in adolescents: task-shifting randomised controlled trial

2018 ◽  
Vol 213 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco Rossouw ◽  
Elna Yadin ◽  
Debra Alexander ◽  
Soraya Seedat
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Ptsd Symptom ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Supportive Counselling ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Ptsd Symptom Severity

BackgroundEmpirical evidence on the effectiveness of evidence-based treatments for adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in low-resource settings is needed.AimsTo evaluate the comparative effectiveness of prolonged exposure and supportive counselling in adolescents with PTSD.MethodSixty-three adolescents (13–18 years) with PTSD were randomly assigned to receive either of the interventions comprising 7–14 sessions of treatment (trial registration in the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry: PACTR201511001345372). The primary outcome measure was PTSD symptom severity, as independently assessed on the Child PTSD Symptom Scale at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 3- and 6-month follow-up.ResultsParticipants receiving prolonged exposure experienced greater improvement on the PTSD symptom severity scale than those receiving supportive counselling (between group differences at post-intervention, mean 12.49, 95% CI 6.82–18.17, P<0.001; d = 1.22). A similar effect size was maintained at 3-month (d = 0.85) and 6-month (d = 1.02) follow-up assessments.ConclusionsAdolescents with PTSD experienced greater benefit from prolonged exposure treatment when provided by non-specialist health workers (nurses) in a community setting.Declaration of interestNone.

scholarly journals Common pathways and communication between the brain and heart: connecting post-traumatic stress disorder and heart failure

Stress ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 530-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene A. Wilson ◽  
Israel Liberzon ◽  
Merry L. Lindsey ◽  
Yana Lokshina ◽  
Victoria B. Risbrough ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Brain
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