Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 May 10;14(1):10695. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-61418-3.
Although most adults experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, a smaller proportion will go on to be clinically diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Persons diagnosed with PTSD have a greater likelihood of developing gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. However, the extent to which subclinical levels of post-traumatic stress (PTS) correspond with the incidence of GI issues in a normative sample is unclear. Resting state fMRI, medical history, psychological survey, and anthropometric data were acquired from the Enhanced Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (n = 378; age range 18-85.6 years). The primary aim of this study was to test the main effect of subclinical PTS symptom severity on the number of endorsed GI issues. The secondary aim was to test the moderating effect of high versus low resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the central executive network (CEN) on the relationship between PTS symptom severity and GI issues. Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (TSC-40) scores were positively associated with the number of endorsed GI issues (b = -0.038, SE = .009, p < .001). The interaction between TSC-40 scores and rsFC within the CEN was significant on GI issues after controlling for sociodemographic and cardiometabolic variables (b = -0.031, SE = .016, p < .05), such that above average rsFC within the CEN buffered the effect of TSC-40 scores on GI issues. Our findings of higher rsFC within the CEN moderating the magnitude of coincidence in PTS and GI symptom severity may reflect the mitigating role of executive control processes in the putative stress signaling mechanisms that contribute to gut dysbiosis.
尽管大多数成年人在其一生中至少经历过一次创伤事件，但只有一小部分人会被临床诊断为创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。被诊断患有 PTSD 的人更有可能患上胃肠道（GI）疾病。然而，亚临床水平的创伤后应激（PTS）与正常样本中 GI 问题的发生率之间的对应程度尚不清楚。从增强 Nathan Kline 研究所-罗克兰样本（n=378；年龄范围 18-85.6 岁）中获取了静息态 fMRI、病史、心理调查和人体测量数据。本研究的主要目的是检验 PTS 症状严重程度的亚临床水平对 GI 问题数量的主要影响。次要目的是检验中央执行网络（CEN）的静息态功能连接（rsFC）高低对 PTS 症状严重程度与 GI 问题之间关系的调节作用。创伤症状清单-40（TSC-40）评分与报告的 GI 问题数量呈正相关（b=-0.038，SE=0.009，p<.001）。在控制社会人口统计学和心血管代谢变量后，TSC-40 评分与 CEN 内 rsFC 的交互作用对 GI 问题有显著影响（b=-0.031，SE=0.016，p<.05），即 CEN 内平均 rsFC 越高，TSC-40 评分对 GI 问题的影响就越小。我们发现 CEN 内 rsFC 越高，PTS 和 GI 症状严重程度的一致性就越高，这可能反映了执行控制过程在假定的应激信号机制中起到了缓解作用，这些机制导致了肠道菌群失调。
