«A reduction in the blood of a protein (MECP2) would seem to favor the risk of developing related diseases stressin people, especially women, who have experienced particularly adverse experiences during childhood or adolescence“, this is the conclusion reached by researchers of the Reference Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), in a study published in Translational Psychiatry.
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Stress-related diseases: the study
At the center of the investigations is the MECP2 protein, or Methyl-CpG binding protein 2, essential for the functioning of nerve cells, known because some mutations of the gene that encodes it are the main cause of Rett Syndrome, a rare, very serious neurological disease, which affects predominantly the female gender from early childhood.
«Today we know that this protein, in addition to being involved in numerous neurodevelopment processes, plays a fundamental role in determining the effects that the environment in which we live has on our organism, suggesting its involvement in the processes that predispose to the development of psychopathologies induced by exposure to stressful life events» say the researchers.
🔬#Mental health: Iss identifies potential marker of susceptibility to #stress
🩸 Reduction of MECP2 protein in the blood would favor the risk of stress-related diseases, especially in women with adverse experiences in childhood or adolescence 👇 https://t.co/89m4J4tcqF pic.twitter.com/U67ihgMIzp— Higher Institute of Health (@istsupsan) December 12, 2022
Based on this evidence, the scientists analyzed the levels of MECP2 in blood samples from 63 clinically healthy people. The results confirmed their hypothesis that there is a connection between reduced MECP2 levels and maladaptive outcomes (such as anxiety and depression) of adverse childhood experiences, and that this link is stronger among women.
“Further studies aimed at deepening the mechanisms underlying this association will be able to reveal new targets for the implementation of personalized preventive interventions” explains the ISS.
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