Physiology Commons^™

Autonomic And Redox Imbalance Correlates With T-Lymphocyte Inflammation In A Model Of Chronic Social Defeat Stress, Cassandra M. Moshfegh, Safwan K. Elkhatib, Christopher W. Collins, Allison J. Kohl, Adam J. Case

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at a significantly elevated risk of developing comorbid inflammatory conditions, but the mechanisms underlying this predilection remain unclear. Our previous work has shown that T-lymphocytes exposed to elevated levels of norepinephrine (NE) displayed a pro-inflammatory signature reminiscent of an autoreactive phenotype. With this, we hypothesized that the increased sympathetic tone observed during psychological trauma may be promoting pro-inflammatory T-lymphocytes, which causes a predisposition to comorbid inflammatory conditions. Here, we examined the consequences of psychological trauma on splenic T-lymphocytes using a mouse model of repeated social defeat stress. Social defeat led to anxiety-like …