Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Genes Brain Behav. 2023 Dec;22(6):e12872. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12872. Epub 2023 Oct 24.
Genetic factors contribute significantly to interindividual differences in the susceptibility to stress-related disorders. As stress can also be conceptualized as environmental exposure, controlled gene-environment interaction (GxE) studies with an in-depth phenotyping may help to unravel mechanisms underlying the interplay between genetic factors and stress. In a prospective-longitudinal quasi-experimental study, we investigated whether polygenic scores (PGS) for depression (DEP-PGS) and neuroticism (NEU-PGS), respectively, were associated with responses to chronic stress in daily life. We examined law students (n = 432) over 13 months. Participants in the stress group experienced a long-lasting stress phase, namely the preparation for the first state examination for law students. The control group consisted of law students without particular stress exposure. In the present manuscript, we analyzed perceived stress levels assessed at high frequency and in an ecologically valid manner by ambulatory assessments as well as depression symptoms and two parameters of the cortisol awakening response. The latter was only assessed in a subsample (n = 196). No associations between the DEP-PGS and stress-related variables were found. However, for the NEU-PGS we found a significant GxE effect. Only in individuals experiencing academic stress a higher PGS for neuroticism predicted stronger increases of perceived stress levels until the exam. At baseline, a higher NEU-PGS was associated with higher perceived stress levels in both groups. Despite the small sample size, we provide preliminary evidence that the genetic disposition for neuroticism is associated with stress level increases in daily life during a long-lasting stress period.
遗传因素对个体对应激相关障碍的易感性差异有重要影响。由于应激也可以被概念化为环境暴露，因此具有深入表型分析的受控基因-环境相互作用（GxE）研究可能有助于揭示遗传因素与应激相互作用的机制。在一项前瞻性纵向准实验研究中，我们研究了分别针对抑郁（DEP-PGS）和神经质（NEU-PGS）的多基因评分（PGS）是否与日常生活中对慢性应激的反应相关。我们对 432 名法律系学生进行了 13 个月的研究。应激组的参与者经历了一个持久的应激阶段，即准备第一次法律学生州考试。对照组由没有特殊应激暴露的法律系学生组成。在本手稿中，我们分析了通过动态评估以高频和生态有效的方式评估的感知压力水平，以及抑郁症状和皮质醇觉醒反应的两个参数。后者仅在亚样本（n=196）中进行了评估。DEP-PGS 与应激相关变量之间没有关联。然而，对于 NEU-PGS，我们发现了一个显著的 GxE 效应。只有在经历学业压力的个体中，神经质的 PGS 较高预示着感知压力水平在考试前会更强地增加。在基线时，两组中较高的 NEU-PGS 与较高的感知压力水平相关。尽管样本量较小，但我们提供了初步证据，表明神经质的遗传倾向与长时间的应激期内日常生活中压力水平的增加有关。
