scholarly journals Minority Stress and the Effects on Emotion Processing in Transgender Men and Cisgender People: A Study Combining fMRI and Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ( 1H-MRS)

Author(s):  
Meltem Kiyar ◽  
Mary-Ann Kubre ◽  
Sarah Collet ◽  
Sourav Bhaduri ◽  
Guy T’Sjoen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Minority stress via discrimination, stigmatization, and exposure to violence can lead to development of mood and anxiety disorders and underlying neurobiochemical changes. To date, the neural and neurochemical correlates of emotion processing in transgender people (and their interaction) are unknown. Methods This study combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1H-MRS) to uncover the effects of anxiety and perceived stress on the neural and neurochemical substrates, specifically Choline, on emotion processing in transgender men. Thirty transgender men (TM), 30 cisgender men (CM), and 35 cisgender women (CW) passively viewed angry, neutral, happy, and surprise faces in the fMRI scanner, underwent a 1H-MRS scan and filled out mood and anxiety related questionnaires. Results As predicted, Choline levels modulated the relationship between anxiety and stress symptoms and the neural response to angry and surprise (but not happy faces) in the amygdala. This was only the case for TM but not cisgender comparisons. More generally, neural responses in the left amygdala, left middle frontal gyrus, and medial frontal gyrus to emotional faces in TM resembled that of CW. Conclusions These results provide first evidence of a critical interaction between levels of analysis and that Choline may influence neural processing of emotion in individuals prone to minority stress.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A791-A792
Author(s):  
Sarah Marie Collet ◽  
Sourav Bhaduri ◽  
Meltem Kiyar ◽  
Sven Mueller ◽  
Guy G T’sjoen

Abstract Background: Much research has been conducted on sexual dimorphisms of the human brain to determine whether and to what extent a brain gender exists. Consequently, a variety of studies using different neuroimaging techniques attempted to identify the existence of a brain phenotype in people with gender dysphoria (GD). However, to date, brain sexual dimorphisms at the metabolite level in transgender people have not been explored using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Methods: In this study, 29 transgender men, 30 cisgender men and 35 cisgender women underwent 1H-MRS at 3 Tesla MRI to characterize common brain metabolites. Specifically, absolute levels of N –acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), glutamate (Glu), myo-inositol (mI) and their respective ratios were assessed in two brain regions, i.e. the amygdala-anterior hippocampus and the lateral parietal cortex. Influences of nicotine consumption, physical activity, education and psychopathology were considered. Results: The results indicated a sex-assigned at birth pattern for choline and glutamate ratios in the amygdala-anterior hippocampus of trans men. In the lateral parietal cortex cis men and cis women differed in the majority of metabolites (i.e. mI; Cr; NAA/Cr; Cho/Cr; mI/Cr; NAA/mI). Moreover, except for mI, trans men did not differ from either cisgender group, showing a pattern subtly moving towards the experienced gender identity. Post-hoc, careful exploration of the age of onset of GD in transgender men demonstrated the possibility of a developmental trend in absolute NAA levels, as a measure of neuronal function. Conclusion: We found sex-typical 1H-MRS spectra and they appear to be brain region specific. While the brain metabolite levels in trans men mostly resembled that of cis women, interesting findings such as modulation by age of onset warrant future enquiry to address potential neurobiological underpinnings of GD.


1994 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 16A-16A
Author(s):  
Floris Groenendaal ◽  
Paula Eken ◽  
Jeroen Van Der Grond ◽  
Karin Rademaker ◽  
Linda S De Vries

2013 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-190
Author(s):  
Senair Alberto Ambros ◽  
Paulo Belmonte Abreu ◽  
Eloísa Elena Ferreira ◽  
Pdro Eugenio Ferreira ◽  
Luciana Estacia Ambros

Objective: To assess the metabolic alterations of the thalamus in subjects with schizophrenia compared to healthysubjects and to investigate whether specific schizophrenic symptoms are associated with metabolic alterationsmeasured by 1H MRS. Methods: This is a case-control study including patients with schizophrenia diagnosed usingthe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition, DMS-IV and the Operational CriteriaChecklist for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT). Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) was used to assessmetabolite concentrations (N-acetylaspartate, choline, creatinine, myoionositol and lactacte) in the left and rightthalamus of 13 patients with schizophrenia and 13 healthy controls. Results: In this study, concentrations ofspecific metabolites in the thalamus, determined by 1H MRS, were similar for individuals with schizophrenia andcontrols. It was observed that cases with family history of schizophrenia and disorganized speech demonstrated areduction in the ratio of the metabolites NAA /Cho in the thalamic nuclei on the right side. However, those withorganized delusions, hallucinations and non-affective auditory hallucinations had an increase of metabolites on theright side compared to the left thalamus. Decreased thalamic metabolic activity in patients with positive symptomswas observed in contrast with those who had well-organized delusions and auditory non-affective hallucinations,core symptoms of schizophrenia. Conclusion: A lateralized thalamic involvement was verified, suggesting thatorganic and genetic factors compromise the right thalamus and that the disorganization associated with delusionsand hallucinations compromises the left thalamic nuclei. Further studies to investigate the correlation betweensymptoms and thalamic dysfunction are warranted. (Rev Neuropsiquiatr 2011;74:183-190)


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3406
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Bumes ◽  
Fro-Philip Wirtz ◽  
Claudia Fellner ◽  
Jirka Grosse ◽  
Dirk Hellwig ◽  
...  

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-1 mutation is an important prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target in glioma. Immunohistological and molecular diagnosis of IDH mutation status is invasive. To avoid tumor biopsy, dedicated spectroscopic techniques have been proposed to detect D-2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG), the main metabolite of IDH, directly in vivo. However, these methods are technically challenging and not broadly available. Therefore, we explored the use of machine learning for the non-invasive, inexpensive and fast diagnosis of IDH status in standard 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). To this end, 30 of 34 consecutive patients with known or suspected glioma WHO grade II-IV were subjected to metabolic positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with O-(2-18F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (18F-FET) for optimized voxel placement in 1H-MRS. Routine 1H-magnetic resonance (1H-MR) spectra of tumor and contralateral healthy brain regions were acquired on a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance (3T-MR) scanner, prior to surgical tumor resection and molecular analysis of IDH status. Since 2-HG spectral signals were too overlapped for reliable discrimination of IDH mutated (IDHmut) and IDH wild-type (IDHwt) glioma, we used a nested cross-validation approach, whereby we trained a linear support vector machine (SVM) on the complete spectral information of the 1H-MRS data to predict IDH status. Using this approach, we predicted IDH status with an accuracy of 88.2%, a sensitivity of 95.5% (95% CI, 77.2–99.9%) and a specificity of 75.0% (95% CI, 42.9–94.5%), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) amounted to 0.83. Subsequent ex vivo 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) measurements performed on metabolite extracts of resected tumor material (eight specimens) revealed myo-inositol (M-ins) and glycine (Gly) to be the major discriminators of IDH status. We conclude that our approach allows a reliable, non-invasive, fast and cost-effective prediction of IDH status in a standard clinical setting.


QJM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y A M Abdelmawla ◽  
M A A Ali ◽  
F H Ali

Abstract Background Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been shown to have clinical value in managing cancers of the brain, breast, cervix and prostate, it is useful for diagnosing and monitoring treatment of cervical cancer by analyzing the metabolite composition of cervical tumors, providing details of tumors metabolism that might assist tumor grading and leading to a better understanding of the biochemical pathways found within the lesion, serving as a noninvasive biomarker of metabolism in tumors. 1H-MRS has achieved great strides as a molecular imaging technique since its introduction, and its scope in many clinical scenarios and research settings is rising. Objective In this study, MRS was performed in all cases using single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) and patient spectra were interpreted qualitatively by inspection of the peaks of lipid and choline. Aim and Patients and Methods This study was carried out during the period between December 2017 and September 2018. Twenty three patients with cancer cervix diagnosed clinically and/or pathologically proved cancer were recruited from (Oncological department) in Ain Shams University Hospitals. Results Our study revealed high lipid level in 65% of cervical cancer patients which has 100% sensitivity and 74% specificity in detecting cervical cancer, choline level which considered most consistent difference between majority of normal tissue and tumors shows high level in measured 69.2% of the patients. Conclusion Abnormal metabolism is a key tumor hallmark. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) allows measurement of metabolite concentration that can be utilized to characterize tumor metabolic changes. 1H-MRS measurements of specific metabolites have been implemented in the clinic. This study interpret ate the role of 1H-MRS for cancer evaluation, evaluates its strengths and limitations, and correlates metabolite peaks at 1H-MRS with diagnostic and prognostic parameters of cervical cancer.


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