Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund
Psychotraumata gelten als Risikofaktor für die Entwicklung einer Reihe psychiatrischer Störungen. Obwohl 40–90 % der Bevölkerung im Laufe ihres Lebens einem traumatischen Ereignis ausgesetzt sind, kommt es nur bei einem Teil zur Entwicklung von Erkrankungen. In den letzten Jahren sind zahlreiche Studien erschienen, die epigenetische Veränderungen, wie DNA-Methylierung, Histonmodifikation oder nichtkodierende RNAs, als biologische Mechanismen beschreiben, durch die die Umwelt z. B. in Form von Traumata, langfristige Effekte auf einen Organismus haben kann.
Methoden und Ergebnisse
Die vorliegende Arbeit soll die sich häufenden Hinweise für die Beteiligung epigenetischer Faktoren an der Entstehung psychiatrischer Erkrankungen, die mit Psychotraumata assoziiert sind, aufzeigen. Im klinischen Fokus steht dabei die posttraumatische Belastungsstörung (PTSD), bei der das Trauma einen Teil der diagnostischen Kriterien darstellt. Die Arbeit setzt sich in diesem Zusammenhang vor allem mit Studien auseinander, die trauma- und krankheitsassoziierte epigenetische Veränderungen im Menschen und im Tiermodell zeigen konnten. Sowohl gewebespezifische als auch Effekte mit Auswirkungen auf den gesamten Organismus wurden beschrieben und unterstreichen die globalen Folgen von Psychotraumata. Darüber hinaus sollen mögliche epigenetische Mechanismen dargestellt werden, die für die lang anhaltenden Effekte von Gen-Umwelt-Interaktionen bei psychiatrischen Erkrankungen verantwortlich sein könnten. Schließlich wird darauf eingegangen wie ein besseres Verständnis dieser epigenetischen Mechanismen Wege für mögliche zukünftige pharmakologische und psychotherapeutische Behandlungsansätze aufzeigen könnte.
Summary
Background
Psychological trauma is considered to be a risk factor for the development of a number of psychiatric disorders. Although 40–90 % of the population is exposed to a traumatic event in their lifetime, only a small fraction of individuals will develop a disorder. In recent years, numerous studies described epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNA as potential biological mechanisms by which the environment can have long-term effects on an organism.
Methods and results
This article reviews the accumulating evidence for the involvement of epigenetic factors in the development of psychiatric disorders associated with psychological trauma. Clinically the review focuses on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for which trauma is a diagnostic criterion. In this context, we specifically focus on studies that show trauma and disease-associated epigenetic changes in humans and animal models. Both tissue-specific as well as cross-tissue effects have been described and underline the global consequences of psychological trauma on the whole organism. In addition, possible epigenetic mechanisms are presented which could be responsible for the long-lasting effects of gene-environment interactions in psychiatric disorders. Finally, the review addresses how a better understanding of these epigenetic mechanisms could suggest avenues for possible future pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment approaches.
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Interessenkonflikt. J.C. Pape und E.B. Binder geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht. Dieser Beitrag beinhaltet keine Studien an Menschen oder Tieren.
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Pape, J., Binder, E. Psychotrauma als Risiko für spätere psychische Störungen. Nervenarzt 85, 1382–1389 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00115-014-4085-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00115-014-4085-8