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Bremner JD, Piccinelli M, Garcia EV, Moncayo VM, Elon L, Nye JA, Cooke CD, Washington BP, Ortega RA, Desai SR, Okoh AK, Cheung B, Soyebo BO, Shallenberger LH, Raggi P, Shah AJ, Daaboul O, Jajeh MN, Ziegler C, Driggers EG, Murrah N, De Cecco CN, van Assen M, Krafty RT, Quyyumi AA, Vaccarino V. A Pilot Study of Neurobiological Mechanisms of Stress and Cardiovascular Risk. MEDICAL RESEARCH ARCHIVES 2023; 11:3787. [PMID: 37484871 PMCID: PMC10361343 DOI: 10.18103/mra.v11i4.3787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Objective Coronary heart disease is a leading cause of death and disability. Although psychological stress has been identified as an important potential contributor, mechanisms by which stress increases risk of heart disease and mortality are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to assess mechanisms by which stress acts through the brain and heart to confer increased CHD risk. Methods Coronary Heart Disease patients (N=10) underwent cardiac imaging with [Tc-99m] sestamibi single photon emission tomography at rest and during a public speaking mental stress task. Patients returned for a second day and underwent positron emission tomography imaging of the brain, heart, bone marrow, aorta (indicating inflammation) and subcutaneous adipose tissue, after injection of [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose for assessment of glucose uptake followed mental stress. Patients with (N=4) and without (N=6) mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia were compared for glucose uptake in brain, heart, adipose tissue and aorta with mental stress. Results Patients with mental stress-induced ischemia showed a pattern of increased uptake in the heart, medial prefrontal cortex, and adipose tissue with stress. In the heart disease group as a whole, activity increase with stress in the medial prefrontal brain and amygdala correlated with stress-induced increases in spleen (r=0.69, p=0.038; and r=0.69, p=0.04 respectfully). Stress-induced frontal lobe increased uptake correlated with stress-induced aorta uptake (r=0.71, p=0.016). Activity in insula and medial prefrontal cortex was correlated with post-stress activity in bone marrow and adipose tissue. Activity in other brain areas not implicated in stress did not show similar correlations. Increases in medial prefrontal activity with stress correlated with increased cardiac glucose uptake with stress, suggestive of myocardial ischemia (r=0.85, p=0.004). Conclusions These findings suggest a link between brain response to stress in key areas mediating emotion and peripheral organs involved in inflammation and hematopoietic activity, as well as myocardial ischemia, in Coronary Heart Disease patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Douglas Bremner
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
- Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA
| | - Marina Piccinelli
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Ernest V. Garcia
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Valeria M. Moncayo
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Lisa Elon
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jonathon A. Nye
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - C. David Cooke
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Brianna P. Washington
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Rebeca Alvarado Ortega
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Shivang R. Desai
- Department Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Alexis K. Okoh
- Department Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Brian Cheung
- Department Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Britt O. Soyebo
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Paolo Raggi
- Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute and the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Amit J. Shah
- Department Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA
| | - Obada Daaboul
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Carrie Ziegler
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Nancy Murrah
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Carlo N. De Cecco
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
- Department Biomedical Informatics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Marly van Assen
- Department Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Robert T. Krafty
- Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Arshed A. Quyyumi
- Department Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Viola Vaccarino
- Department Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Jiang J, Thalamuthu A, Koch FC, Liu T, Xu Q, Trollor JN, Ames D, Wright MJ, Catts V, Sachdev PS, Wen W. Cerebral Blood Flow in Community-Based Older Twins Is Moderately Heritable: An Arterial Spin Labeling Perfusion Imaging Study. Front Aging Neurosci 2019; 11:169. [PMID: 31333444 PMCID: PMC6615405 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Adequate cerebral blood flow (CBF) is necessary to maintain brain metabolism and function. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an emerging MRI technique offering a non-invasive and reliable quantification of CBF. The genetic basis of CBF has not been well documented, and one approach to investigate this is to examine its heritability. The current study aimed to examine the heritability of CBF using ASL data from a cohort of community-dwelling older twins (41 monozygotic (MZ) and 25 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs; age range, 65–93 years; 56.4% female). The results showed that the cortex had higher CBF than subcortical gray matter (GM) regions, and CBF in the GM regions of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) territory was lower than that of the middle (MCA) and posterior (PCA) cerebral arteries. After accounting for the effects of age, sex and scanner, moderate heritability was identified for global CBF (h2 = 0.611; 95% CI = 0.380–0.761), as well as for cortical and subcortical GM and the GM in the major arterial territories (h2 = 0.500–0.612). Strong genetic correlations (GCs) were found between CBF in subcortical and cortical GM regions, as well as among the three arterial territories (ACA, MCA, PCA), suggesting a largely convergent genetic control for the CBF in brain GM. The moderate heritability of CBF warrants future investigations to uncover the genetic variants and genes that regulate CBF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiyang Jiang
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Anbupalam Thalamuthu
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia.,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Forrest C Koch
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia.,School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Qun Xu
- Department of Health Manage Centre, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,Renji-UNSW CHeBA Neurocognitive Centre, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Julian N Trollor
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia.,Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.,Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN), University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - David Ames
- National Ageing Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Margaret J Wright
- NeuroImaging Genetics Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, Australia.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Vibeke Catts
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Perminder S Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia.,Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia
| | - Wei Wen
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia.,Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia
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Abstract
Coronary flow (CF) measured ex vivo is largely determined by capillary density that reflects angiogenic vessel formation in the heart in vivo. Here we exploit this relationship and show that CF in the rat is influenced by a locus on rat chromosome 2 that is also associated with cardiac capillary density. Mitochondrial tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (Wars2), encoding an L53F protein variant within the ATP-binding motif, is prioritized as the candidate at the locus by integrating genomic data sets. WARS2(L53F) has low enzyme activity and inhibition of WARS2 in endothelial cells reduces angiogenesis. In the zebrafish, inhibition of wars2 results in trunk vessel deficiencies, disordered endocardial-myocardial contact and impaired heart function. Inhibition of Wars2 in the rat causes cardiac angiogenesis defects and diminished cardiac capillary density. Our data demonstrate a pro-angiogenic function for Wars2 both within and outside the heart that may have translational relevance given the association of WARS2 with common human diseases. Blood supply to the heart is crucial for cardiac function. Here, the authors show that the mitochondrial tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase, WARS2, drives blood vessel generation in zebrafish and rats and that inhibition of Wars2 diminishes blood vessel growth both within and outside in the heart, suggesting a new target for manipulating angiogenesis.
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