IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/hin/jnlnrp/417010.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Epigenetic Mechanisms Shape the Biological Response to Trauma and Risk for PTSD: A Critical Review

Author

Listed:
  • Morgan Heinzelmann
  • Jessica Gill

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops in approximately one-quarter of trauma-exposed individuals, leading us and others to question the mechanisms underlying this heterogeneous response to trauma. We suggest that the reasons for the heterogeneity relate to a complex interaction between genes and the environment, shaping each individual’s recovery trajectory based on both historical and trauma-specific variables. Epigenetic modifications provide a unique opportunity to elucidate how preexisting risk factors may contribute to PTSD risk through changes in the methylation of DNA. Preexisting risks for PTSD, including depression, stress, and trauma, result in differential DNA methylation of endocrine genes, which may then result in a different biological responses to trauma and subsequently a greater risk for PTSD onset. Although these relationships are complex and currently inadequately described, we provide a critical review of recent studies to examine how differences in genetic and proteomic biomarkers shape an individual’s vulnerability to PTSD development, thereby contributing to a heterogeneous response to trauma.

Suggested Citation

  • Morgan Heinzelmann & Jessica Gill, 2013. "Epigenetic Mechanisms Shape the Biological Response to Trauma and Risk for PTSD: A Critical Review," Nursing Research and Practice, Hindawi, vol. 2013, pages 1-10, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:hin:jnlnrp:417010
    DOI: 10.1155/2013/417010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/NRP/2013/417010.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/NRP/2013/417010.xml
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1155/2013/417010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kerry J. Ressler & Kristina B. Mercer & Bekh Bradley & Tanja Jovanovic & Amy Mahan & Kimberly Kerley & Seth D. Norrholm & Varun Kilaru & Alicia K. Smith & Amanda J. Myers & Manuel Ramirez & Anzhelika , 2011. "Post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with PACAP and the PAC1 receptor," Nature, Nature, vol. 470(7335), pages 492-497, February.
    2. Kerry J. Ressler & Kristina B. Mercer & Bekh Bradley & Tanja Jovanovic & Amy Mahan & Kimberly Kerley & Seth D. Norrholm & Varun Kilaru & Alicia K. Smith & Amanda J. Myers & Manuel Ramirez & Anzhelika , 2011. "Post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with PACAP and the PAC1 receptor," Nature, Nature, vol. 477(7362), pages 120-120, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Devin Rocks & Mamta Shukla & Laila Ouldibbat & Silvia C. Finnemann & Achyuth Kalluchi & M. Jordan Rowley & Marija Kundakovic, 2022. "Sex-specific multi-level 3D genome dynamics in the mouse brain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. E. R. Velasco & A. Florido & Á Flores & E. Senabre & A. Gomez-Gomez & A. Torres & A. Roca & S. Norrholm & E. L. Newman & P. Das & R. A. Ross & A. Lori & O. J. Pozo & K. J. Ressler & L. L. Garcia-Estev, 2022. "PACAP-PAC1R modulates fear extinction via the ventromedial hypothalamus," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Takashi Nagashima & Suguru Tohyama & Kaori Mikami & Masashi Nagase & Mieko Morishima & Atsushi Kasai & Hitoshi Hashimoto & Ayako M. Watabe, 2022. "Parabrachial-to-parasubthalamic nucleus pathway mediates fear-induced suppression of feeding in male mice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hin:jnlnrp:417010. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mohamed Abdelhakeem (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.hindawi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.