Association between spontaneous activity of the default mode network hubs and leukocyte telomere length in late childhood and early adolescence

Author(s):Show less -

Rebello, Keila ^[1] ; Moura, Luciana M. ^{[1, 2]} ; Xavier, Gabriela ^[3] ; Spindola, Leticia M. ^{[4, 2, 3]} ; Carvalho, Carolina Muniz ^{[4, 3]} ; Hoexter, Marcelo Queiroz ^{[5, 2]} ; Gadelha, Ary ^{[4, 2]} ; Picon, Felipe ^{[6, 2]} ; Pan, Pedro Mario ^{[4, 2]} ; Zugman, Andre ^{[4, 2]} ; Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo ^{[2, 7]} ; Brietzke, Elisa ^{[8, 9]} ; Belangero, I, Sintia ; Salum, Giovanni Abrahao ^{[6, 10]} ; Rohde, Luis Augusto ^{[6, 10]} ; Miguel, Euripedes Constantino ^{[5, 10]} ; Bressan, Rodrigo ^{[11, 10]} ; Jackowski, Andrea ^{[11, 10]} ; Sato, Joao Ricardo ^{[1, 10]}

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Univ Fed ABC, Ctr Math Comp & Cognit, Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

^[2] Natl Inst Dev Psychiat Children & Adolescents INP, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] I, Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Morphol & Genet, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Psychiat, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Psychiat, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[6] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Hosp Clin Porto Alegre, Dept Psychiat, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[7] Pontificia Univ Catolica Rio Grande do Sul, Sch Med, Dev Cognit Neurosci Lab, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[8] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Programa Posgrad Psiquiatria & Psicol Med, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[9] Queens Univ, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, Kingston, ON - Canada

^[10] Belangero, Sintia, I, Natl Inst Dev Psychiat Children & Adolescents INP, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[11] Belangero, Sintia, I, Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Psychiat, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH; v. 127, DEC 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The impact of early life stress on mental health and telomere length shortening have been reported. Changes in brain default mode network (DMN) were found to be related to a myriad of psychiatric conditions in which stress may play a role. In this context, family environment and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potential causes of stress. This is a hypothesis-driven study focused on testing two hypotheses: (i) there is an association between telomere length and the function of two main hubs of DMN: the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC); (ii) this association is modulated by family environment and/or ACEs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating these hypotheses. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and blood sample were collected from 389 subjects (6-15 age range). We assessed DMN fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and leukocyte telomere length (LTL). We fitted general linear models to test the main effects of LTL on DMN hubs and the interaction effects with Family Environment Scale (FES) and ACEs. The results did not survive a strict Bonferroni correction. However, uncorrected p-values suggest that LTL was positively correlated with fALFF in PCC and a FES interaction between FES and LTL at mPFC. Although marginal, our results encourage further research on the interaction between DMN hubs, telomere length and family environment, which may play a role on the biological embedding of stress. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/08531-5 - High risk cohort study for psychiatric disorders in childhood: 3-year follow-up neuroimaging study
• Grantee: Andrea Parolin Jackowski
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 18/21934-5 - Network statistics: theory, methods, and applications
• Grantee: André Fujita
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/50917-0 - INCT 2014: developmental psychiatry for children and adolescents
• Grantee: Eurípedes Constantino Miguel Filho
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/07280-1 - Search for genetic markers of risk, progression and response to treatment
• Grantee: Síntia Iole Nogueira Belangero
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 18/04654-9 - Time series, wavelets and high dimensional data
• Grantee: Pedro Alberto Morettin
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants