PTSDgene database

Pathway Enrichment Analysis Protein-Protein Interaction Analysis

Study Report

Study Information

Basic Info

Reference	de Quervain, D. J.,2012 PMID: 22586106
Citation	de Quervain, D. J., et al. (2012). "PKCalpha is genetically linked to memory capacity in healthy subjects and to risk for posttraumatic stress disorder in genocide survivors." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(22): 8746-8751.
Phenotype	Reexperiencing symptoms, Avoidance symptoms, Hyperarousal symptoms, PTSD
Trauma	Rwandan Civil War (refugees)
Study Design	Case-control
Study Type	Candidate gene association study, Gene-environment interaction study
Sample Size	347 refugees
SNP/Marker Size	2,005 SNPs
Predominant Ethnicity	Black
Population	Rwanda,Uganda
Gender	163 males, 184 females
Age	Median age=34 years, range from 17 to 68 years.

Detail Info

Sample Diagnosis	DSM-IV
Related Diagnostic Tools	Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS), Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-D),
Sample Status	As the Nakivale refugee camp has grown over the last decade and is spread over a large area, participants were sampled proportionally to the population size from each zone. To exclude genetic relatives in the samples, only one person per household was interviewed. Interviewers had been trained to detect current alcohol abuse and acute psychotic symptoms; candidates exhibiting these signs were excluded. All subjects had experienced highly aversive traumatic situations and were examined in 2006/2007 by trained experts
Controls Exposed	Yes
Replication Size	None
Result Summary	fMRI analysis revealed PRKCA genotype-dependent brain activation differences during successful encoding of aversive information. Further, the identified genetic variant was also related to traumatic memory and to the risk for PTSD in heavily traumatized survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Our results indicate a role for PKC-alpha in memory and suggest a genetic link between memory and the risk for PTSD.
Potential Biomarker	None

Genetic result reported by this study

Normal genetic result reported by this study (count: 4)

Marker	Phenotype	Related Gene	Statistical Values	Author Comments	Marker's Category
rs4790904	PTSD	PRKCA	A allele of rs4790904 with increased risk for PTSD: P-value=0.009.	The A allele of rs4790904 was associated with increased risk...... The A allele of rs4790904 was associated with increased risk for PTSD. More...	Significant
rs4790904	Avoidance symptoms	PRKCA	A allele of rs4790904 with increased avoidance symptoms: P-value=0.037.	The A allele of rs4790904 was associated with increased avoi...... The A allele of rs4790904 was associated with increased avoidance symptoms. More...	Significant
rs4790904	Hyperarousal symptoms	PRKCA	P-value>0.05.	SNP rs4790904 was not associated with hyperarousal symptoms. SNP rs4790904 was not associated with hyperarousal symptoms.	Significant
rs4790904	Reexperiencing symptoms	PRKCA	With symptoms of reexperiencing the traumatic event (traumatic memory) in the healthy population: P-value=0.033.	PRKCA SNP rs4790904 was significantly associated with sympto...... PRKCA SNP rs4790904 was significantly associated with symptoms of reexperiencing the traumatic event (traumatic memory) with the same direction of effect as with memory for negative information in the healthy population. More...	Significant

Gene * Environment result reported by this study (count: 1)

Marker	Phenotype	Related Gene	Environment	Statistical Values	Author Comments	Marker's Category
rs4790904	PTSD	PRKCA	Sex	Sex x SNP interaction: P-value >= 0.7.	Sex did not influence the genotype effect on traumatic memor...... Sex did not influence the genotype effect on traumatic memory or PTSD risk. More...	Non-significant