Kitamura Soichiro, Matsuoka Kiwamu, Takahashi Masato, Yoshikawa Hiroaki, Minami Akihiro, Ohnishi Hiroki, Ishida Rio, Miyasaka Toshiteru, Tai Yumi, Ochi Tomoko, Tanaka Toshihiro, Makinodan Manabu
Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University School of Medicine, Kashihara, Japan.
Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan.
Front Psychiatry. 2023 Sep 8;14:1215429. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1215429. eCollection 2023.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a source of significant social and daily distress in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to typically developed (TD) individuals, people with ASD are at an increased risk of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which can result in abnormal neuronal development. However, whether or how ACEs influence abnormal neural development and PTSD symptoms in ASD has not been fully elucidated.
Thirty-nine TD individuals and 41 individuals with ASD underwent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), with axonal and dendritic densities assessed in terms of the orientation dispersion index and neurite density index (NDI), respectively. Voxel-based analyses were performed to explore the brain regions associated with PTSD symptoms, and the relationships between the severity of ACEs and PTSD symptoms and NODDI parameters in the extracted brain regions were examined.
There was a significant positive association between PTSD symptom severity and NDI in the bilateral supplementary motor area; right superior frontal, left supramarginal, and right superior temporal gyrus; and right precuneus in the ASD group, but not in the TD group. ACE severity was significantly associated with NDI in the right superior frontal and left supramarginal gyrus and right precuneus in the ASD group. Moreover, NDI in the right precuneus mainly predicted the severity of PTSD symptoms in the ASD group, but not the TD group.
These results suggest that ACE-associated higher neurite density is of clinical importance in the pathophysiology of PTSD symptoms in ASD.
创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）可能是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中严重社会和日常困扰的一个来源。与正常发育（TD）个体相比，ASD患者有更高的童年不良经历（ACEs）风险，这可能导致神经元发育异常。然而，ACEs是否以及如何影响ASD中的异常神经发育和PTSD症状尚未完全阐明。
39名TD个体和41名ASD个体接受了T1加权磁共振成像和神经突方向分散与密度成像（NODDI），分别根据方向分散指数和神经突密度指数（NDI）评估轴突和树突密度。进行基于体素的分析以探索与PTSD症状相关的脑区，并检查ACEs严重程度与PTSD症状以及提取脑区中NODDI参数之间的关系。
在ASD组中，PTSD症状严重程度与双侧辅助运动区、右侧额上回、左侧缘上回、右侧颞上回以及右侧楔前叶的NDI之间存在显著正相关，而在TD组中未发现这种相关性。在ASD组中，ACE严重程度与右侧额上回、左侧缘上回和右侧楔前叶的NDI显著相关。此外，右侧楔前叶的NDI主要预测ASD组中PTSD症状的严重程度，而不是TD组。
这些结果表明，与ACE相关的较高神经突密度在ASD中PTSD症状的病理生理学中具有临床重要性。
