Journal Article Ahead of print
PubMed: 42829158 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2026.107031
Immunometabolic alterations in post-traumatic stress disorder.
Brain Behav Immun
Authors: Jelena Brasanac, Linda El-Ahmad, Emma Mollerup, Stefanie Gamradt, Luisa Gruenberg, Daria Shyshko, Victoria Stiglbauer, Kim Zimbalski, Nikola Schoofs, Kathlen Priebe, Felix Wülfing, Simon Guendelman, Tolou Maslahati, Stefanie Koglin, Christian Otte, Isabel Dziobek, Stefan Roepke, Stefan M Gold
Affiliations
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Medical Department, Section of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Medical Department, Section of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Medical Department, Section of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité at St. Hedwig Hospital, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Clinical Psychology of Social Interaction, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany; NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Berlin-Potsdam, Germany; Clinical Psychology of Social Interaction, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany; NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Medical Department, Section of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (INIMS), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany; German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Berlin-Potsdam, Germany.
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to various alterations within the immune system, yet the metabolic programming of immune cells remains unexplored. In the current exploratory cross-sectional study, we interrogated immunometabolic function by applying cell-specific metabolic flow cytometry, serum biomarker profiling, and targeted gene expression analysis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with PTSD (n = 34) compared with healthy controls (n = 32). PTSD was associated with elevated serum IL-6 (p = 0.005) and higher glycolysis- and oxidative pentose phosphate pathway-related markers (identified by CITRUS/SAM using a prespecified FDR threshold of 1%): lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) across adaptive and innate immune cell subsets (CD4⁺ T, CD8⁺ T, B cells, NK cells, monocytes; Cohen's d = 0.51-0.74). CD4⁺ T cells additionally showed elevated glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1, Cohen's d = 0.76), CD8⁺ T cells demonstrated enhanced carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A (CPT1a, Cohen's d = 0.54) expression, and monocytes exhibited increased acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACAC, Cohen's d = 0.69). Expression of inflammatory- and stress-related genes was largely comparable between groups. Together, these data provide preliminary evidence for immunometabolic alterations in PTSD at both cellular and systemic levels. These results could contribute to understanding potential pathophysiological mechanisms and support further investigation of immunometabolism in PTSD.
MeSH
Cells, Genes, Monocytes, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Serum, Oxidoreductases, Killer Cells, Natural, Stress, Physiological, Stress Disorders, Traumatic