Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29158585›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2018

Child abuse associates with an imbalance of oligodendrocyte-lineage cells in ventromedial prefrontal white matter.

A Tanti, J J Kim, M Wakid, M-A Davoli, G Turecki, N Mechawar

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
7.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Hemispheric asymmetries in borderline personality disorder: a systematic review.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025
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  14. Neurobiology of resilience to early life stress.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

A TantiMcGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
J J KimMcGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
M WakidMcGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
M-A DavoliMcGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
G TureckiMcGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
N MechawarMcGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. naguib.mechawar@mcgill.ca.
Douglas Mental Health University Institute · CAMcGill University · CA

Funding

CIHR MOP-111022
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Child abuse (CA) is a major risk factor for depression, and strongly associates with suicidal behavior during adulthood. Neuroimaging studies have reported widespread changes in white matter integrity and brain connectivity in subjects with a history of CA. Although such observations could reflect changes in myelin and oligodendrocyte function, their cellular underpinnings have never been addressed. Using postmortem brain samples from depressed suicides with or without history of CA and matched controls (18 per group), we aimed to characterize the effects of CA on oligodendrocyte-lineage (OL) cells in the ventromedial prefrontal white matter. Using immunoblotting, double-labeling immunofluorescence and stereological estimates of stage-specific markers, we found that CA is associated with increased numbers of mature myelinating oligodendrocytes, accompanied by decreased numbers of more immature OL cells. This was paralleled by an increased expression of transcription factor MASH1, which is involved in the terminal differentiation of the OL, suggesting that CA may trigger an increased maturation, or bias the populations of OL cells toward a more mature phenotype. Some of these effects, which were absent in the brain of depressed suicides with no history of CA, were also found to recover with age, suggesting that changes in the balance of the OL may reflect a transient adaptive mechanism triggered by early-life adversity. In conclusion, our results indicate that CA in depressed suicides is associated with an imbalance of the OL in the ventromedial prefrontal white matter, an effect that could lead to myelin remodeling and long-term connectivity changes within the limbic network.

Indexed as

AdultAdult Survivors of Child AbuseAdverse Childhood ExperiencesBasic Helix-Loop-Helix ProteinsBrainCell LineageFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMyelin SheathOligodendrogliaPrefrontal CortexStem CellsSuicideWhite MatterASCL1 protein, humanBasic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins

Identifiers

PMID29158585
OpenAlexW2768382030

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.