Borderline personality disorder and childhood trauma: exploring the affected biological systems and mechanisms

• Published in: BMC psychiatry Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 221
• Main Authors: Cattane, Nadia, Rossi, Roberta, Lanfredi, Mariangela, Cattaneo, Annamaria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 15.06.2017; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adverse childhood experiences; Analysis; Borderline personality disorder; Borderline Personality Disorder - etiology; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Child; Child Abuse; Childhood trauma; Children; Comorbidity; Debate; Development and progression; Endogenous opioid system; Environmental factors; Epigenetic inheritance; Female; Gene-Environment Interaction; Health aspects; HPA axis; Humans; Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Hypothalamus; Kinases; Narcotics; Neural plasticity; Neuroimaging; Neuroplasticity; Neurotransmission; Opioids; Personality; Personality disorders; Pituitary; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Post traumatic stress disorder; Pregnancy; Psychiatry; Psychic trauma in children; Trauma; Neuroplasticity; Epigenetic mechanisms; Neuroimaging studies; HPA axis; Childhood trauma; Endogenous opioid system; Borderline personality disorder; Neurotransmission
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-017-1383-2

According to several studies, the onset of the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) depends on the combination between genetic and environmental factors (GxE), in particular between biological vulnerabilities and the exposure to traumatic experiences during childhood. We have searched for studies reporting possible alterations in several biological processes and brain morphological features in relation to childhood trauma experiences and to BPD. We have also looked for epigenetic mechanisms as they could be mediators of the effects of childhood trauma in BPD vulnerability. We prove the role of alterations in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, in neurotrasmission, in the endogenous opioid system and in neuroplasticity in the childhood trauma-associated vulnerability to develop BPD; we also confirm the presence of morphological changes in several BPD brain areas and in particular in those involved in stress response. Not so many studies are available on epigenetic changes in BPD patients, although these mechanisms are widely investigated in relation to stress-related disorders. A better comprehension of the biological and epigenetic mechanisms, affected by childhood trauma and altered in BPD patients, could allow to identify "at high risk" subjects and to prevent or minimize the development of the disease later in life.