BackgroundChildhood maltreatment (CM) plays an important role in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of this study was to examine whether CM severity and type are associated with MDD-related brain alterations, and how they interact with sex and age.MethodsWithin the ENIGMA-MDD network, severity and subtypes of CM using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were assessed and structural magnetic resonance imaging data from patients with MDD and healthy controls were analyzed in a mega-analysis comprising a total of 3872 participants aged between 13 and 89 years. Cortical thickness and surface area were extracted at each site using FreeSurfer.ResultsCM severity was associated with reduced cortical thickness in the banks of the superior temporal sulcus and supramarginal gyrus as well as with reduced surface area of the middle temporal lobe. Participants reporting both childhood neglect and abuse had a lower cortical thickness in the inferior parietal lobe, middle temporal lobe, and precuneus compared to participants not exposed to CM. In males only, regardless of diagnosis, CM severity was associated with higher cortical thickness of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Finally, a significant interaction between CM and age in predicting thickness was seen across several prefrontal, temporal, and temporo-parietal regions.ConclusionsSeverity and type of CM may impact cortical thickness and surface area. Importantly, CM may influence age-dependent brain maturation, particularly in regions related to the default mode network, perception, and theory of mind.

DNA methylation of the FKBP5 gene is assumed to alter FKBP5 expression and hence the synthesis of the FK506 binding protein 51, a central element of a genomic negative feedback loop for glucocorticoid receptor signaling. The present study aimed to replicate and extend previously reported influences of FKBP5 genotypes, childhood maltreatment and depression on methylation levels of five CpG sites in intron 7 of the FKBP5 gene in a large population-based sample. Besides the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1360780, associations of the FKBP5 methylation with 22 other, unlinked FKBP5 SNPs as well as associations between FKBP5 methylation levels and transcription levels were investigated. Using whole-blood methylation of 3965 subjects of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) reduced methylation levels in TT allele carriers of rs1360780 (OR = 0.975, p = .005) and currently depressed subjects (OR = 0.995, p = 0.005) were found. Further, an impact of two yet undescribed SNPs (rs6910300, rs7771727) on methylation levels was observed. However, main and interactive effects for childhood maltreatment and lifetime major depressive disorder observed in previous studies could not be replicated. Finally, FKBP5 methylation levels were not related to FKBP5 transcription levels in whole blood. Thus, the present study verified the associations of FKBP5 genotypes and state depression on the FKBP5 methylation levels of five CpG sites in intron 7. However, FKBP5 methylation of these five CpG sites could not be validated as a valuable clinical biomarker for biological long-term effects of childhood maltreatment or lifetime depression.

Introduction: It has been shown that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is accompanied by marked structural brain changes that can be detected several years before clinical diagnosis via structural magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. In this study, we developed a structural MRbased biomarker for in vivo detection of AD using a supervised machine learning approach. Based on an individual's pattern of brain atrophy a continuous AD score is assigned which measures the similarity with brain atrophy patterns seen in clinical cases of AD. Methods: The underlying statistical model was trained with MR scans of patients and healthy controls from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI-1 screening). Validation was performed within ADNI-1 and in an independent patient sample from the Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS-1). In addition, our analyses included data from a large general population sample of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-Trend). Results: Based on the proposed AD score we were able to differentiate patients from healthy controls in ADNI-1 and OASIS-1 with an accuracy of 89% (AUC = 95%) and 87% (AUC = 93%), respectively. Moreover, we found the AD score to be significantly associated with cognitive functioning as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination in the OASIS-1 sample after correcting for diagnosis, age, sex, age•sex, and total intracranial volume (Cohen's f 2 = 0.13). Additional analyses showed that the prediction accuracy of AD status based on both the AD score and the MMSE score is significantly higher than when using just one of them. In SHIP-Trend we found the AD score to be weakly but significantly associated with a test of verbal memory consisting of an immediate and a delayed word list recall (again after correcting for age, sex, age•sex, and total intracranial volume, Cohen's f 2 = 0.009). This association was mainly driven by the immediate recall performance. Discussion: In summary, our proposed biomarker well differentiated between patients and healthy controls in an independent test sample. It was associated with measures of

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The use of oral contraceptives (OCs) has been associated with elevated blood cortisol concentrations. However, metabolic downstream effects of OC intake are not well described. Here, we aimed to determine if the blood metabolome is associated with the use of OCs and to estimate if these associations might be statistically mediated by serum cortisol concentrations. Plasma metabolites measured with the Biocrates AbsoluteIDQ p180 Kit and serum cortisol concentrations measured by an immunoassay were determined in 391 premenopausal women (116 OC users) participating in two independent cohorts of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). After correction for multiple testing, 27 metabolites were significantly associated with OC intake in SHIP-TREND (discovery cohort), of which 25 replicated in SHIP-2. Inter alia, associated metabolites included 12 out of 38 phosphatidylcholines with diacyl residue, 7 out of 14 lysophosphatidylcholines and 5 out of 21 amino acids. The associations with phosphatidylcholines were statistically mediated by cortisol, whereas lysophosphatidylcholines showed no mediation effect. The results represent a step toward a better understanding of the metabolic consequences of OC intake. Connecting cortisol with metabolic consequences of OC intake could help to understand the mechanisms underlying adverse effects. The blood metabolome may serve as a biomarker for identifying users at high risk for developing such adverse effects.