Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa; South African Medical Research Council / Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Neurosci Lett. 2022 Jan 19;769:136388. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136388. Epub 2021 Dec 7.
Exposure to community violence is common in South Africa and negatively impacts on biopsychosocial health. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterised by symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, hypervigilance and negative alterations in cognition and mood, and can develop consequent to trauma exposure. Individuals who repeatedly experience and witness violence may also come to view it as appealing and rewarding. This appetitive aggression (AA) increases the likelihood of perpetrating violence. Telomeres are repetitive nucleotide sequences that protect the ends of chromosomes. Telomere length (TL) attrition is a stress-sensitive marker of biological aging that has been associated with a range of psychiatric disorders. This study investigated the cross-sectional relationship between TL and symptoms of PTSD and AA in South African men residing in areas with high community violence. PTSD and AA symptom severity was assessed in 290 men using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale - Interview (PSS-I) and Appetitive Aggression Scale (AAS), respectively. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed on DNA extracted from saliva and used to calculate relative TL (rTL). Regression models were used to assess the relationships between rTL and PSS-I and AAS scores. Network analyses using EBIC glasso methods were performed using rTL and items from each of the AAS and PSS-I measures. Both PSS-I (p = 0.023) and AAS (p = 0.016) scores were positively associated with rTL. Network analyses indicated that rTL was weakly related to two PSS-I and five AAS items but performed poorly on indicators of centrality and was not strongly associated with measure items either directly or indirectly. The positive association between rTL and measures of AA and PTSD may be due to the induction of protective homeostatic mechanisms, which reduce TL attrition, following early life trauma exposure.
南非普遍存在社区暴力暴露问题，对生物心理社会健康产生负面影响。创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的特征是侵入性、回避、过度警觉和认知及情绪的负面改变，可因创伤暴露而发展。反复经历和目睹暴力的个体也可能开始认为暴力具有吸引力和回报。这种欲望攻击（AA）增加了实施暴力的可能性。端粒是保护染色体末端的重复核苷酸序列。端粒长度（TL）损耗是生物老化的应激敏感标志物，与一系列精神疾病有关。本研究调查了 TL 与南非男性 PTSD 和 AA 症状之间的横断面关系，这些男性居住在社区暴力高发地区。使用创伤后应激障碍症状量表访谈版（PSS-I）和欲望攻击量表（AAS）分别评估 290 名男性的 PTSD 和 AA 症状严重程度。从唾液中提取 DNA，使用定量聚合酶链反应计算相对 TL（rTL）。回归模型用于评估 rTL 与 PSS-I 和 AAS 评分之间的关系。使用 rTL 和 AAS 和 PSS-I 测量的每个项目进行 EBIC glasso 方法的网络分析。PSS-I（p=0.023）和 AAS（p=0.016）评分与 rTL 呈正相关。网络分析表明，rTL 与两个 PSS-I 和五个 AAS 项目弱相关，但在中心性指标上表现不佳，与测量项目也没有直接或间接的强关联。rTL 与 AA 和 PTSD 测量值之间的正相关可能是由于早期生活创伤暴露后诱导保护性体内平衡机制，从而减少 TL 损耗。
