Miu A C, Cărnuţă M, Vulturar R, Szekely-Copîndean R D, Bîlc M I, Chiş A, Cioară M, Fernandez K C, Szentágotai-Tătar A, Gross J J
Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.
Department of Molecular Sciences, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca.
Genes Brain Behav. 2017 Apr;16(4):419-426. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12366. Epub 2017 Jan 10.
Child maltreatment is associated with increased risk for virtually all common mental disorders, but it is not yet clear why. One possible mechanism is emotion regulation ability. The present study investigated for the first time the influence of a BDNF Val66Met genotype × child maltreatment interaction on emotion regulation, and compared differential susceptibility and diathesis-stress models. A sample of N = 254 healthy volunteers were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and underwent an experimental assessment of reappraisal ability (i.e. the success of using reappraisal to downregulate negative affect). A self-report instrument previously validated against a clinical interview was used to investigate child maltreatment. There was a significant BDNF Val66Met genotype × child maltreatment interaction (B = -0.31, P < 0.015), with Met carriers showing both the lowest level of reappraisal ability in maltreated participants, and the highest level of reappraisal ability in non-maltreated participants. By assessing alternative models, we found that the best fitting model was in line with strong differential susceptibility. As expected, reappraisal ability was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. Therefore, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism moderates the link between child maltreatment and emotion regulation ability. Future studies could investigate whether improving reappraisal in maltreated BDNF Met carriers results in reduced risk for mental disorders.
儿童虐待与几乎所有常见精神障碍的风险增加相关，但原因尚不清楚。一种可能的机制是情绪调节能力。本研究首次调查了脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）Val66Met基因分型×儿童虐待交互作用对情绪调节的影响，并比较了差异易感性模型和素质-应激模型。对N = 254名健康志愿者进行了BDNF Val66Met多态性基因分型，并对重新评价能力（即使用重新评价来下调负面影响的成功率）进行了实验评估。使用一种先前针对临床访谈验证过的自我报告工具来调查儿童虐待情况。存在显著的BDNF Val66Met基因分型×儿童虐待交互作用（B = -0.31，P < 0.015），Met等位基因携带者在受虐待参与者中重新评价能力水平最低，而在未受虐待参与者中重新评价能力水平最高。通过评估替代模型，我们发现最拟合的模型符合强差异易感性。正如预期的那样，重新评价能力与抑郁症状呈负相关。因此，BDNF Val66Met多态性调节了儿童虐待与情绪调节能力之间的联系。未来的研究可以调查改善受虐待的BDNF Met等位基因携带者的重新评价是否会降低精神障碍风险。
