Serum adiponectin-levels are predictive of probable posttraumatic stress disorder in women

Eileen Vuong; Shibe Mhlongo; Esnat Chirwa; Carl Lombard; Nasheeta Peer; Sian Megan Hemmings; Naeemah Abrahams; Soraya Seedat

doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2022.100477

Serum adiponectin-levels are predictive of probable posttraumatic stress disorder in women

Neurobiol Stress. 2022 Aug 8:20:100477. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2022.100477. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Eileen Vuong^{1

2}, Shibe Mhlongo³, Esnat Chirwa^{3

4}, Carl Lombard⁵, Nasheeta Peer⁶, Sian Megan Hemmings^{1

7}, Naeemah Abrahams^{3

8}, Soraya Seedat^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI), PTSD Program, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
² Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
³ Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa.
⁴ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
⁵ Biostatitistics Unit, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa.
⁶ Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, and Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
⁷ South African Medical Research Council / Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁸ School of Public Health and Family Medicine: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Accumulative evidence indicates a role for adiponectin, a polypeptide secreted by adipose tissue, in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic disorder (PTSD) via metabolic and inflammatory pathways. This study examined adiponectin as a potential predictive biomarker for PTSD among female rape survivors.

Methods: We evaluated the relationship of baseline serum adiponectin levels to the development of probable PTSD at 3- and 6-months post rape-exposure and compared adiponectin levels between 542 rape-exposed (RE) and 593 rape-unexposed women (RUE). Probable PTSD were defined as Davidson Trauma Scale score ≥40. Data were analysed using multivariate regression models and a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. We adjusted for clinically relevant covariates associated with PTSD, as well as adiposity indices.

Results: Participants who were in the mid-and high adiponectin tertile groups versus the lowest tertile group had a significantly reduced risk of probable PTSD among at 6 months follow-up, independent of adiposity(aOR = 0.45[0.22-1.05], p = 0.035; aOR = 0.44[0.22-0.90], p = 0.024). However, there was no effect of group (RE vs. RUE).

Limitations: Adiponectin assays were conducted on non-fasting blood samples and information on chronic medication, dietary factors and levels of physical activity were not collected. There was a high attrition rate among rape exposed participants.

Conclusions: Our results show that higher serum adiponectin levels are associated with reduced risk of probable PTSD over a 6-month period. This finding supports the hypothesis that serum adiponectin is a potential risk biomarker for PTSD.

Keywords: Adiponectin; Biomarker; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress symptoms; Rape; Trauma.