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ABSTRACT: Background
Evidence suggests that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in serotonergic signaling and stress response pathways moderate associations between PTSD and cortical thickness. This study examined a genetic regulator of these pathways, the PPM1F gene, which has also been implicated in mechanisms of stress responding and is differentially expressed in individuals with comorbid PTSD and depression compared to controls.Methods
Drawing from a sample of 240 white non-Hispanic trauma-exposed veterans, we tested 18 SNPs spanning the PPM1F gene for association with PTSD and cortical thickness.Results
Analyses revealed six PPM1F SNPs that moderated associations between PTSD symptom severity and cortical thickness of bilateral superior frontal and orbitofrontal regions as well as the right pars triangularis (all corrected p's < 0.05) such that greater PTSD severity was related to reduced cortical thickness as a function of genotype. A whole-cortex vertex-wise analysis using the most associated SNP (rs9610608) revealed this effect to be localized to a cluster in the right superior frontal gyrus (cluster-corrected p < 0.02).Limitations
Limitations of this study include the small sample size and that the sample was all-white, non-Hispanic predominately male veterans.Conclusions
These results extend prior work linking PPM1F to PTSD and suggest that variants in this gene may have bearing on the neural integrity of the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
SUBMITTER: Sullivan DR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6791735 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Sullivan Danielle R DR Morrison Filomene G FG Wolf Erika J EJ Logue Mark W MW Fortier Catherine B CB Salat David H DH Fonda Jennifer R JR Stone Annjanette A Schichman Steven S Milberg William W McGlinchey Regina R Miller Mark W MW
Journal of affective disorders 20190819
<h4>Background</h4>Evidence suggests that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in serotonergic signaling and stress response pathways moderate associations between PTSD and cortical thickness. This study examined a genetic regulator of these pathways, the PPM1F gene, which has also been implicated in mechanisms of stress responding and is differentially expressed in individuals with comorbid PTSD and depression compared to controls.<h4>Methods</h4>Drawing from a sample of 240 ...[more]