PTSD, Immune System, and Inflammation.

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe trauma and stress-related disorder associated with different somatic comorbidities, especially cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, and with chronic low-grade inflammation. Altered balance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, cytokines and chemokines, C-reactive protein, oxidative stress markers, kynurenine pathways, and gut microbiota might be involved in the alterations of certain brain regions regulating fear conditioning and memory processes, that are all altered in PTSD. In addition to the HPA axis, the gut microbiota maintains the balance and interaction of the immune, CNS, and endocrine pathways forming the gut-brain axis. Disbalance in the HPA axis, gut-brain axis, oxidative stress pathways and kynurenine pathways, altered immune signaling and disrupted homeostasis, as well as the association of the PTSD with the inflammation and disrupted cognition support the search for novel strategies for treatment of PTSD. Besides potential anti-inflammatory treatment, dietary interventions or the use of beneficial bacteria, such as probiotics, can potentially improve the composition and the function of the bacterial community in the gut. Therefore, bacterial supplements and controlled dietary changes, with exercise, might have beneficial effects on the psychological and cognitive functions in patients with PTSD. These new treatments should be aimed to attenuate inflammatory processes and consequently to reduce PTSD symptoms but also to improve cognition and reduce cardio-metabolic disorders associated so frequently with PTSD.

• Authors: Nela Pivac, Barbara Vuic, Marina Sagud, Gordana Nedic Erjavec, Matea Nikolac Perkovic, Marcela Konjevod, Lucija Tudor, Dubravka Svob Strac, Suzana Uzun, Oliver Kozumplik, Sandra Uzun, Ninoslav Mimica
• Journal: Advances in experimental medicine and biology (Adv Exp Med Biol) Vol. 1411 Pg. 225-262 ( 2023) ISSN: 0065-2598 [Print] United States
• PMID: 36949313 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Chemical References

• Kynurenine

Topics

• Humans
• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic (therapy)
• Pituitary-Adrenal System
• Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System
• Kynurenine (metabolism)
• Inflammation (metabolism)
• Immune System (metabolism)