Xiao Yiwen, Chen Feng, Lei Wenkun, Ke Jun, Dai Yingliang, Qi Rongfeng, Lu Guangming, Zhong Yuan
School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210097, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210097, China.
Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), NO.19, XIUHUA ST, XIUYING DIC, Haikou, 570311, Hainan, China.
J Psychiatr Res. 2023 Apr;160:28-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.02.002. Epub 2023 Feb 7.
Due to the diversity of traumatic events, the diagnosis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is heterogeneous. The pathogenesis has been explored in the fields of brain imaging and genomics separately, but the results are inconsistent. Previous research evidenced that there existed structural differences between PTSD and healthy controls in multiple brain regions. This study further looked into the differences of brain structure in PTSD at the whole brain level and analyzed the difference-related genomes. The brain structure imaging data of 36 patients and 32 healthy controls were taken as morphological indexes. Partial least squares regression and transcriptome data were used to extract genomes related to structural differences. Additional data sets were used to study transcription characteristics of genome. Morphological differences were found in cingulate gyrus between patients and control group. Differentially expressed genes related to Morphometric similarity networks difference space were also observed. The obtained genes (i.e., RORA, PRKG1 and FKBP5) were proved to be related to the disorder with no significant correlation with other mental illnesses. In the subsequent cell type analysis, astrocytes, excitatory neurons and inhibitory neurons were evidenced to have the most significant correlation with these genes. This study found morphologically different brain regions related to PTSD. The related genome transcription analysis connects the structural differences and molecular mechanisms.
由于创伤事件的多样性，创伤后应激障碍的诊断具有异质性。已经分别在脑成像和基因组学领域探索了其发病机制，但结果并不一致。先前的研究表明，创伤后应激障碍患者与健康对照者在多个脑区存在结构差异。本研究进一步在全脑水平上探究创伤后应激障碍患者的脑结构差异，并分析与差异相关的基因组。将36例患者和32名健康对照者的脑结构成像数据作为形态学指标。采用偏最小二乘回归和转录组数据来提取与结构差异相关的基因组。使用额外的数据集来研究基因组的转录特征。发现患者与对照组在扣带回存在形态学差异。还观察到与形态测量相似性网络差异空间相关的差异表达基因。所获得的基因（即RORA、PRKG1和FKBP5）被证明与该疾病相关，与其他精神疾病无显著相关性。在随后的细胞类型分析中，证实星形胶质细胞、兴奋性神经元和抑制性神经元与这些基因的相关性最为显著。本研究发现了与创伤后应激障碍相关的形态学不同的脑区。相关的基因组转录分析将结构差异与分子机制联系起来。
