Can Saliva Samples Facilitate PTSD Diagnosis in Veterans?

Highlights:

• Currently, PTSD is diagnosed solely based on psychological and psychiatric measures.
• Researchers have now identified a typical microbial profile in the saliva of war veterans.//
• These findings can facilitate easier diagnosis of PTSD so that veterans can receive appropriate treatment.

Saliva samples might soon facilitate a quick, objective and reliable diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suggests research from Tel Aviv and Haifa universities. To conduct the study, the researchers collected saliva samples from 200 individuals and described their psychological, social and medical circumstances. The results of this study demonstrate a typical microbial profile in the saliva of veterans of the first Lebanon War who had combat stress-related responses and are presently experiencing PTSD. These findings might aid the development of microbiota-related drugs (linked to the body's microbial ecology). It will also enable accurate and objective diagnosis of post-trauma patients in the future.

This study was published in the esteemed MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY journal of NATURE.

How did Researchers Conclude that PTSD can be Diagnosed with Saliva?

The study group comprised 200 Israeli veterans who had fought in the 1982 Lebanon War. These study participants had to answer a test that addressed psychological topics, including demographics, psychopathology, welfare, health and education concerns. They also had questions about sleep issues, hunger problems, guilt, suicidal thoughts, social and spousal support, hostility and life satisfaction.

Researchers discovered that people with PTSD and high psychopathological indications exhibited a similar picture of bacteria in the saliva when they compared the results of the subjects' microbial distribution to the psychological results and their responses to the welfare questionnaires (a unique oral microbiotic signature). The significance of this study, according to the researchers, lies in the possibility that, for the first time, objective criteria other than behavioral ones may be used to identify post-trauma. It is important to note that the number of years of schooling exhibited a protective effect and a reversal image of the microbial ecology in the saliva. But the salivary bacteria of individuals exposed to air pollution showed a link to the picture with PTSD.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first depiction of a microbial signature in the saliva among veteran soldiers with PTSD. We were surprised to discover that about a third of the PTSD subjects had never been diagnosed with post-trauma, so they never received any recognition from the Ministry of Defense and the official authorities. It must be stressed that until now, post-trauma diagnosis has been based solely on psychological and psychiatric measures. Thanks to this study, it may be possible, in the future, to use objective molecular and biological characteristics to distinguish PTSD sufferers, considering environmental influences. We hope that this new discovery and the microbial signatures described in this study might promote easier diagnosis of post-traumatic veteran soldiers so they can receive appropriate treatment,” said Prof. Illana Gozes.

Source-Eurekalert