Persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder in Chinese Shidu parents is associated with combined gray and white matter abnormalities

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging 2023-10, Vol.335, p.111715-111715, Article 111715
• Main Authors: Ge, Jiyuan, Luo, Yifeng, Qi, Rongfeng, Wu, Luoan, Dai, Huanhuan, Lan, Qingyue, Liu, Bo, Zhang, Li, Lu, Guangming, Cao, Zhihong, Shen, Junkang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Diffusion tensor imaging; Gray and white matter; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Shidu; Surface-based morphometry
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111715

•Shidu parents who lost their only child are more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).•This is the first study on gray and white matter differences and associations between persistence and remission of PTSD in Chinese Shidu parents.•Differences were observed in gray and white matter between persistence and remission of PTSD in the early stages of trauma.•Some specific gray and white matter abnormalities were often present simultaneously in P-PTSD, which may contribute to distinguish persistence and remission of PTSD to some extent. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common mental health disorders among Shidu parents. Identification of gray and white matter differences between persistence of PTSD (P-PTSD) and remission of PTSD (R-PTSD) is crucial to determine their prognosis. A total of 37 Shidu parents with PTSD were followed for five years. Surface-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging were carried out to analyze the differences in gray and white matter between P-PTSD and R-PTSD. Finally, 30 patients with PTSD were enrolled, including 12 with P-PTSD and 18 with R-PTSD. Compared with patients with R-PTSD, patients with P-PTSD exhibited lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in Cluster 1 (including body of the corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, corticospinal tract) and Cluster 2 (including inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, splenium of the corpus callosum) in the left cerebral hemisphere and higher cortical thickness in the right lateral occipital cortex (LOC). In patients with P-PTSD, FA values of Cluster 2 were negatively correlated with cortical thickness of the right LOC. These results suggest that among Shidu parents, differences were observed in gray and white matter between P-PTSD and R-PTSD. Moreover, some certain gray and white matter abnormalities were often present simultaneously in P-PTSD.