Preserved subcortical volumes and cortical thickness in women with sexual abuse-related PTSD.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been frequently associated with volumetric reductions of grey matter structures (e.g. hippocampus and anterior cingulate), but these results remain controversial, especially in female non-combat-related samples. The present study aimed at exploring whole-brain structures in women with sexual abuse-related PTSD on the basis of cortical and subcortical structure comparisons to a matched pair sample that was well-controlled. Seventeen young women who had experienced sexual abuse and who had a diagnosis of chronic PTSD based on the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV and 17 healthy controls individually matched for age and years of education were consecutively recruited. Both groups underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging and psychiatric assessment of the main disorders according to Axis I of DSM-IV. The resulting scans were analyzed using automated cortical and subcortical volumetric quantifications. Compared with controls, PTSD subjects displayed normal global and regional brain volumes and cortical thicknesses. Our results indicate preserved subcortical volumes and cortical thickness in a sample of female survivors of sexual abuse with PTSD. The authors discuss potential differences between neural mechanisms of sexual abuse-related PTSD and war-related PTSD.

DNA methylation profiles distinguish different subtypes of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

AIM: Most studies have considered gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) as a homogenous group of samples or distinguish only gastrointestinal from pancreatic endocrine tumors. This article investigates if DNA methylation patterns could distinguish subtypes of GEP-NETs. MATERIALS & METHODS: The DNA methylation level of 807 cancer-related genes was investigated in insulinomas, gastrinomas, non-functioning pancreatic endocrine tumors and small intestine endocrine tumors. RESULTS: DNA methylation patterns were found to be tumor type specific for each of the pancreatic tumor subtypes and identified two distinct methylation-based groups in small intestine endocrine tumors. Differences of DNA methylation levels were validated by pyrosequencing for 20 candidate genes and correlated with differences at the transcriptional level for four candidate genes. CONCLUSION: The heterogeneity of DNA methylation patterns in the different subtypes of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors suggests different underlying pathways and, therefore, these tumors should be considered as distinct entities in molecular and clinical studies.