Blood transcriptome analysis suggests an indirect molecular association of early life adversities and adult social anxiety disorder by immune-related signal transduction

Abstract

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by severe fear in social situations and avoidance of these. Multiple genetic as well as environmental factors contribute to the etiopathology of SAD. One of the main risk factors for SAD is stress, especially during early periods of life (early life adversity; ELA). ELA leads to structural and regulatory alterations contributing to disease vulnerability. This includes the dysregulation of the immune response. However, the molecular link between ELA and the risk for SAD in adulthood remain largely unclear. Evidence is emerging that long-lasting changes of gene expression patterns play an important role in the biological mechanisms linking ELA and SAD. Therefore, we performed a transcriptome study of SAD and ELA using RNA sequencing. Analyzing differential gene expression, 13 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified with respect to SAD whilst no significant differences in expression were identified with respect to ELA. The most significantly expressed gene was MAPK3 being upregulated in the SAD group compared to control individuals. In contrary, weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA) identified only modules significantly associated with ELA, not with SAD. Furthermore, analyzing interaction networks of the genes from the ELA-associated modules and the SAD-related MAPK3) revealed complex interactions of those genes. Gene functional enrichment analyses indicate a role of signal transduction pathways as well as inflammatory responses supporting an involvement of the immune system in the association of ELA and SAD. In conclusion, we did not identify a direct molecular link between ELA and adult SAD by transcriptional changes. However, our data indicate an indirect association of ELA and SAD mediated by the interaction of genes involved in immune-related signal transduction.