Repeated assessments of endocrine- and immune-related changes in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: It is assumed that stress-related changes in the endocrine and immune systems are key mediators involved in the development of diseases associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Evidence suggests that those changes might be related to the duration of PTSD. The aim of our study was to investigate the differences in selected endocrine- and immune-related variables between PTSD patients and control subjects, and whether these differences persist over time.

Exaggerated platelet reactivity to physiological agonists in war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

An association between traumatic stress and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is supported by various epidemiological studies. Platelet activation and binding of activated platelets to leukocytes contributes to the pathophysiology of CVD. Evidence of hyperactive sympathetic nervous system, altered expression of platelet α(2)-adrenoreceptors (α(2)AR), and altered platelet adenylate cyclase activity in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that platelet reactivity in PTSD may be altered as well.

Natural killer cell cytotoxicity and lymphocyte perforin expression in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: To examine the effect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the measures of immune function and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis components, and to determine whether additional life stressors affect measured variables.

Methods: We simultaneously examined the natural killer cell cytotoxicity (NKCC), perforin and glucocorticoid receptor (GCR) expression in natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T (CD8) cells, as well as serum cortisol concentration in a group of Croatian war veterans with chronic, combat-related PTSD (n=29) and a group of healthy, age-matched men (n=13). PTSD patients were divided into two subgroups: compensation-seeking (n=15) and retired or compensation non-seeking (n=14) subjects.

Changes in immune and endocrine systems in posttraumatic stress disorder - prospective study.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased medical morbidity, particularly from the autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Changes in the endocrine and immune system are key mediators in this process. The aim of our study was to investigate weather hormones (cortisol and prolactin), proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)), components of HPA-axis (lymphocyte expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR)), immune function (natural killer cell cytotoxicity) and peripheral blood percentages of various lymphocyte subpopulations (T cells, helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells, B cells and natural killer cells) change in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder over time.

Enumeration of haemagglutinin-specific CD8+ T cells after influenza vaccination using MHC class I peptide tetramers.

With emergence of MHC class I tetramers loaded with CD8+ T-cell viral epitopes, it is possible to study virus-specific CD8 cells in humans during infection and after vaccination. MHC class I tetramers was used to detect the frequency of haemagglutinin (HA)-specific T cells in 26 healthy influenza-vaccinated humans. Peripheral blood was collected before, and 7, 14 and 28 days after vaccination.