Thursday, October 10, 2024
10/10/2024
PROJECT SUMMARY Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating psychological condition that increases the risk of life-threatening comorbid inflammatory diseases such as hypertension by over 50%. The goal of this project is to focus specifically on the neurological-T-lymphocyte mechanisms that regulate psychological trauma-induced inflammation and the predisposition to hypertension. Previous results from our laboratory using a preclinical model of PTSD known as repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) have demonstrated splenic T-lymphocytes as a primary source of inflammation after psychological trauma. Furthermore, we identified that RSDS-mice display a heightened blood pressure response to angiotensin II (AngII), which mimics the cardiovascular disease sensitization observed in PTSD patients. Importantly, mice lacking T-lymphocytes were not sensitized to AngII, which implies T-lymphocyte-driven inflammation as a mechanistic regulator of blood pressure after RSDS. We have additionally elucidated tight links between pro-inflammatory cytokine production from T- lymphocytes, sympathetic nervous system activation, the mitochondrial redox environment (primarily superoxide) in T-lymphocytes, anxiety-like behavior, and the development of a blood pressure sensitization to AngII, which suggests these physiological elements are mechanistically-intertwined. Given this information, we will test the central hypothesis that increased sympathoexcitation after RSDS drives splenic T- lymphocyte inflammation through increased mitochondrial superoxide to enhance sensitivity to hypertension. Our Specific Aims will determine neuroimmune pathways and intracellular mechanisms that control T-lymphocyte inflammation in the RSDS model of PTSD. The innovation in this proposal lies in the concept of central and local autonomic control of T-lymphocytes regulating blood pressure sensitization, the biological identification of mitochondrial superoxide regulating T-lymphocyte inflammation after psychological trauma, and the technological advances of our new genetically-engineered animal models and neuromodulation techniques. Overall, this project will reveal the impact of T-lymphocyte inflammation after psychological trauma, and aims to utilize this evidence to inform clinical management of PTSD via earlier cardiovascular screening or targeted therapeutic intervention.
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