Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37419878›Full record

ArticleTranslational psychiatry2023

Methyl-CpG binding protein 2 expression is associated with symptom severity in patients with PTSD in a sex-dependent manner.

Livia Cosentino, Stephanie H Witt, Helene Dukal, Francesca Zidda, Sebastian Siehl, Herta Flor, Bianca De Filippis

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Translational psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Maternal oxytocin administration mitigates nociceptive, social, and epigenetic impairments in adolescent offspring exposed to perinatal trauma.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Livia CosentinoCenter for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.
Stephanie H WittDepartment of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1571-1468
Helene DukalDepartment of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-6188-807X
Francesca ZiddaInstitute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-2507-0542
Sebastian SiehlInstitute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
Herta Flor *Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany. herta.flor@zi-mannheim.de.ORCID 0000-0003-4809-5398
Bianca De Filippis *Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy. bianca.defilippis@iss.it.ORCID 0000-0002-6508-1206
Heidelberg University · DEIstituto Superiore di Sanità · IT

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) SFB636/C1Ministero della Salute (Ministry of Health, Italy) GR-2018-12366210
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Traumatic events may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with higher prevalence in women. Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) increase PTSD risk in adulthood. Epigenetic mechanisms play important roles in PTSD pathogenesis and a mutation in the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) in mice provide susceptibility to PTSD-like alterations, with sex-dependent biological signatures. The present study examined whether the increased risk of PTSD associated with ACE exposure is accompanied by reduced MECP2 blood levels in humans, with an influence of sex. MECP2 mRNA levels were analyzed in the blood of 132 subjects (58 women). Participants were interviewed to assess PTSD symptomatology, and asked to retrospectively report ACE. Among trauma-exposed women, MECP2 downregulation was associated with the intensification of PTSD symptoms linked to ACE exposure. MECP2 expression emerges as a potential contributor to post-trauma pathophysiology fostering novel studies on the molecular mechanisms underlying its potential sex-dependent role in PTSD onset and progression.

Indexed as

Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2Stress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdverse Childhood ExperiencesAnimalsEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleHumansMiceRetrospective StudiesMECP2 protein, humanMethyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2

Identifiers

PMID37419878
PMCPMC10329035
OpenAlexW4383533039

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.