Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs after experiencing a traumatic experience and can manifest itself with intrusive thoughts, mood changes, problems falling or staying asleep, anxiety, or fear of places and situations that are reminiscent of the event that occurred. caused by the trauma, among other symptoms that significantly affect the quality of life of those who suffer it. Approximately 6% of people exposed to trauma develop this disorder, but scientists still do not understand the neurobiology underlying PTSD, and why not everyone develops it after experiencing trauma.
The largest and most diverse genetic study of PTSD to date, analyzing data from 1,222,882 people, has identified 95 specific points within the genome, known as loci, associated with the risk of developing PTSD, including 80 that had not been identified before. In this research, carried out by the PTSD working group within the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, in collaboration with Cohen Veterans Bioscience, 43 genes were also discovered that appear to play a role in the development of PTSD.
“This finding strongly validates that heritability is a central feature of PTSD based on the largest genetic study of PTSD to date and reinforces that there is a genetic component that contributes to the complexity of PTSD,” said Caroline Nievergelt, co-lead author of the study. and professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego
The results have been published in the journal Nature Genetics and not only confirm the previously discovered genetic basis of PTSD, but also offer new targets for future research that could lead to developing new prevention and treatment strategies for this disorder. Lead author of the study Karestan Koenen, a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, said it is an important milestone for the genetics of PTSD.
An advance that will help prevent and treat post-traumatic stress
Previous genetic and twin studies, including research by the same team in 2017 and an expanded study in 2019, showed that PTSD has a genetic component and that many genes contribute to the condition. But these analyzes pointed to different genetic loci across the data sets, and many studies had difficulty distinguishing loci that were specific to PTSD risk from those that were also linked to conditions such as depression and cardiovascular disease.
The new work included data from 88 different genome-wide association studies, analyzing genetic information from more than 1.2 million individuals, including about 140,000 with PTSD, about 50,000 of African ancestry (including about 12,000 with PTSD), and about 7,000 of Native American ancestry (almost 2,000 with PTSD).
“This meta-analysis strongly demonstrates that genetic variation contributes to the biology of differential risk for PTSD and will help prevent and treat the devastating impact of PTSD.”
The meta-analysis revealed that 95 loci are strongly associated with PTSD, including several genes that affect neurons, neurotransmitters, ion channels, synapses, and the endocrine and immune systems. Although previous studies had found a higher prevalence of PTSD in women, the researchers found no evidence of this in their data. Brain regions such as the cerebellum were also explored, and it was found that interneurons could be involved in the risk of PTSD.
“This meta-analysis strongly demonstrates that genetic variation contributes to the biology of differential risk for PTSD and provides an essential support to advance our broader goal of understanding disease pathways to prevent and treat the devastating impact of PTSD.” PTSD,” said Dr. Magali Haas, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cohen Veterans Bioscience.
By integrating putatively genetically identified pathways and known therapies with application to other neuropsychiatric disorders, support may emerge for additional therapies for PTSD. This research reinforces that there is a genetic component that contributes to the complexity of post-traumatic stress disorder and provides the opportunity to eliminate the stigma that is often related to the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, concludes this expert.
