Glial suppression and post-traumatic stress disorder: A cross-sectional study of 1,520 world trade center responders

Ginny Natale; Minos Kritikos; Pei-Fen Kuan; Melissa A Carr; Xiaohua Yang; Yuan Yang; Roman Kotov; Evelyn J Bromet; Sean A P Clouston; Benjamin J Luft

doi:10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100631

Glial suppression and post-traumatic stress disorder: A cross-sectional study of 1,520 world trade center responders

Brain Behav Immun Health. 2023 May 13:30:100631. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100631. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Program in Public Health and Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA, 11794.
² Department of Applied Mathematics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA, 11794.
³ Stony Brook World Trade Center Wellness Program, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA, 11725.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA, 11794.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA, 11794.

Abstract

Background: Chronically re-experiencing the memory of a traumatic event might cause a glial response. This study examined whether glial activation would be associated with PTSD in a study of responders present after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks without comorbid cerebrovascular disease.

Methods: Plasma was retrieved from 1,520 WTC responders and stored for a cross-sectional sample of responders of varying levels of exposure and PTSD. Plasma levels (pg/ml) of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were assayed. Because stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases cause distributional shifts in GFAP levels, multivariable-adjusted finite mixture models analyzed GFAP distributions in responders with and without possible cerebrovascular disease.

Results: Responders were aged 56.3 years and primarily male; 11.07% (n = 154) had chronic PTSD. Older age was associated with increased GFAP, whereas higher body mass was associated with decreased GFAP. Multivariable-adjusted finite mixture models revealed that severe re-experiencing trauma from 9/11 was associated with lower GFAP (B = -0.558, p = 0.003).

Conclusion: This study presents evidence of reduced plasma GFAP levels among WTC responders with PTSD. Results suggest re-experiencing traumatic events might cause glial suppression.

Keywords: Disasters; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Neuroinflammation; Post-traumatic stress disorder; World trade center.