Bountress, Kaitlin E.Vladimirov, VladimirMcMichael, GowonTaylor, Z. NathanHardiman, GaryChung, DongjunAdams, Zachary W.Kmett Danielson, CarlaAmstadter, Ananda B.2024-08-082024-08-082021-04-08Bountress KE, Vladimirov V, McMichael G, et al. Gene Expression Differences Between Young Adults Based on Trauma History and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:581093. Published 2021 Apr 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.581093https://hdl.handle.net/1805/42703Background: The purpose of this study was to identify gene expression differences associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma exposure (TE) in a three-group study design comprised of those with and without trauma exposure and PTSD. Methods: We conducted gene expression and gene network analyses in a sample (n = 45) composed of female subjects of European Ancestry (EA) with PTSD, TE without PTSD, and controls. Results: We identified 283 genes differentially expressed between PTSD-TE groups. In an independent sample of Veterans (n = 78) a small minority of these genes were also differentially expressed. We identified 7 gene network modules significantly associated with PTSD and TE (Bonferroni corrected p ≤ 0.05), which at a false discovery rate (FDR) of q ≤ 0.2, were significantly enriched for biological pathways involved in focal adhesion, neuroactive ligand receptor interaction, and immune related processes among others. Conclusions: This study uses gene network analyses to identify significant gene modules associated with PTSD, TE, and controls. On an individual gene level, we identified a large number of differentially expressed genes between PTSD-TE groups, a minority of which were also differentially expressed in the independent sample. We also demonstrate a lack of network module preservation between PTSD and TE, suggesting that the molecular signature of PTSD and trauma are likely independent of each other. Our results provide a basis for the identification of likely disease pathways and biomarkers involved in the etiology of PTSD.en-USAttribution 4.0 InternationalCivilian traumaGene expressionGene network analysesPost-traumatic stress disorderTrauma exposureVeteransArticle