Publications by authors named "Robert J Ursano"
Article Synopsis
- The study explores the biological differences linked to PTSD by examining DNA methylation changes in blood, suggesting they could indicate susceptibility or effects of trauma.
- Conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, the research included nearly 5,100 participants to identify specific genetic markers associated with PTSD.
- Results showed 11 significant CpG sites related to PTSD, with some also showing correlations between blood and brain tissue methylation, highlighting their potential role in understanding PTSD biology.
This study establishes mirdametinib as the first MEK inhibitor that can undergo clinical development for psychiatric indications such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is characterized by persistent traumatic memories with limited effective treatment options. A body of evidence suggests that memory storage is dynamic and constantly updated through post-retrieval modification a process termed reconsolidation.
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- The study aimed to create a composite score to measure how well US Army combat arms soldiers can handle combat-related stressors (CRS) before deployment and how this relates to persistent PTSD symptoms afterwards.!* -
- Researchers collected pre-deployment survey data from 2,542 soldiers and assessed PTSD levels two to nine months after returning from deployment, finding that 5.4% developed persistent PTSD, mostly among those with high levels of CRS.!* -
- The findings indicate that a reliable pre-deployment resilience score can predict how soldiers might be affected by high CRS, suggesting that such a score could help target preventative measures against PTSD.!*
Article Synopsis
- The National Guard played a crucial role in the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and understanding their personal experiences can help address mental health issues among service members.
- A survey conducted with nearly 4,000 NG members revealed that 32% experienced personal connections to COVID-19, such as infection or loss of loved ones, which resulted in higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and probable PTSD.
- Specifically, those whose close relationships were affected by death due to COVID-19 reported significantly higher PTSS and were nearly three times as likely to exhibit PTSD compared to those without such experiences.
Background: An improved understanding of pathways to alcohol use disorder (AUD) among service members may inform efforts to reduce the substantial impact of AUD on this population. This study examined whether the relationship between a service-related risk factor (combat exposure) and later AUD varied based on individual differences in genetic liability to AUD.
Methods: The sample consisted of 1203 US Army soldiers of genetically determined European ancestry who provided survey and genomic data in the Army STARRS Pre/Post Deployment Study (PPDS; 2012-2014) and follow-up survey data in wave 1 of the STARRS Longitudinal Study (2016-2018).
Article Synopsis
- Researchers aimed to create and validate Methylation Risk Scores (MRS) using machine learning to identify individuals at risk for PTSD based on genomic and trauma exposure data.
- The study developed three models: eMRS (which combines trauma exposure and methylation data), MoRS (which relies only on methylation data), and MoRSAE (which adjusts MoRS for trauma exposure).
- The eMRS model showed the best performance with a 92% accuracy, and all models were able to predict post-deployment PTSD significantly, suggesting that including trauma exposure improves risk assessment.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and differences in DNA methylation, a type of gene regulation, in blood samples from individuals diagnosed with PTSD compared to trauma-exposed controls.
- Researchers conducted a large-scale analysis involving over 5,000 participants from various civilian and military studies, using standardized procedures for PTSD assessment and DNA methylation testing.
- The results revealed 11 specific DNA methylation sites associated with PTSD, and found similarities in methylation patterns between blood and brain tissues, suggesting a biological basis for the condition.
Introduction: The National Guard (NG) served as a critical component of the U.S. response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental health problem that increases risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is not known whether gender or comorbidities modify associations between PTSD and CVD.
Objective: To assess risk of hypertension and atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) associated with PTSD in a predominantly young military population, and determine if gender or PTSD comorbidities modify these associations.
Association of 5-HTTLPR With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in US Service Members.
Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks)
April 2024
Objective: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that manifests after exposure to a stressful traumatic event, such as combat experience. Accumulated evidence indicates an important genetic influence in the development of PTSD. The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene has been identified as a candidate for PTSD and a polymorphism of the serotonin transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) is associated with the disorder in the general population.
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- PTSD genetics have been difficult to study compared to other psychiatric disorders, limiting our biological understanding of the condition.
- A large-scale meta-analysis involving over 1.2 million individuals identified 95 genome-wide significant loci, with 80 being new discoveries related to PTSD.
- Researchers identified 43 potential causal genes linked to neurotransmitter activity, developmental processes, synaptic function, and immune regulation, enhancing our knowledge of the neurobiological systems involved in PTSD.
Article Synopsis
- This study creates a method to identify Army transitioning service members (TSMs) most at risk of becoming homeless to implement preventive measures.
- Using data from 4,790 soldiers and two machine learning models, the research predicts homelessness risk based on available administrative and self-reported data.
- The findings show that targeted machine learning approaches can effectively identify high-risk individuals for outreach, significantly aiding in homelessness prevention efforts.
Objective: This report presents an overview of the objectives, design, and analytic strategy of the , an investigation of factors associated with child maltreatment in active duty military families.
Method: The study uses a case-control retrospective research design and discrete-time survival methodology to examine service member demographic characteristics, family characteristics, military-related characteristics, and military family life events associated with child maltreatment incidents that meet the Department of Defense definition of child abuse or neglect. The sample includes all active duty families with a first occurrence of child maltreatment anytime between Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 and FY 2018 ( = 28,684), and a representative sample of control families with children under age of 18 during the same period ( = 589,417).
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on improving treatment for military personnel suffering from insomnia by using a machine learning model to predict responses to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
- The model analyzed data from 1,449 US Army soldiers and achieved a prediction accuracy of about 60%, identifying significant predictors like insomnia severity and suicidal ideation.
- The results suggest that using this model could help target individuals who are more likely to benefit from CBT-I, promoting a personalized approach to insomnia treatment in military settings.
Article Synopsis
- - A new multi-ancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS) of major depression (MD) analyzed data from 88,316 cases and 902,757 controls, representing various ancestries including African, East Asian, South Asian, and Hispanic/Latin American.
- - The study discovered 53 novel genetic loci significantly linked to MD, with fewer existing European ancestry loci proving relevant to other ancestry groups.
- - A transcriptome-wide association study in this research identified 205 new genes associated with MD, highlighting the importance of diverse ancestry in genetic research for better understanding and finding relevant genes.