Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566, Japan.
Kyoto Prefectural Rehabilitation Hospital for Mentally and Physically Disabled, Naka-ashihara, Joyo-city, Kyoto, 610-0113, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 6;7(1):12731. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12917-z.
Psychological stress induces many diseases including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, the causal relationship between stress and brain atrophy has not been clarified. Applying single-prolonged stress (SPS) to explore the global effect of severe stress, we performed brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition and Voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Significant atrophy was detected in the bilateral thalamus and right visual cortex. Fluorescent immunohistochemistry for Iba-1 as the marker of activated microglia indicates regional microglial activation as stress-reaction in these atrophic areas. These data certify the impact of severe psychological stress on the atrophy of the visual cortex and the thalamus. Unexpectedly, these results are similar to chronic neuropathic pain rather than PTSD clinical research. We believe that some sensitisation mechanism from severe stress-induced atrophy in the visual cortex and thalamus, and the functional defect of the visual system may be a potential therapeutic target for stress-related diseases.
心理压力可诱发许多疾病，包括创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）；然而，压力与脑萎缩之间的因果关系尚未阐明。我们应用单一延长应激（SPS）来探索严重应激的全局效应，进行了脑磁共振成像（MRI）采集和基于体素的形态计量学（VBM）分析。在双侧丘脑和右侧视觉皮层检测到明显的萎缩。用小胶质细胞激活标志物 Iba-1 进行荧光免疫组织化学染色表明，在这些萎缩区域存在应激反应的区域性小胶质细胞激活。这些数据证明了严重心理压力对视觉皮层和丘脑萎缩的影响。出乎意料的是，这些结果与慢性神经病理性疼痛而非 PTSD 临床研究相似。我们认为，来自视觉皮层和丘脑的严重应激诱导性萎缩的一些敏化机制，以及视觉系统的功能缺陷可能是应激相关疾病的潜在治疗靶点。
