Summary: Postmortem studies show that the neurons of people with PTSD are sensitive to glucocorticosteroids. Now researchers have a new way to test this idea. They grew brain cells from PTSD patients’ own stem cells. This also helped them find the genes linked to that sensitivity. Some people are born prone to PTSD. Some handle stress poorly. This study opens the door to more research and post traumatic stress disorder treatment.
Two people react to stress in different ways. Both may live through the same kind of event. One may get PTSD, and the other may not. It is easy to guess that genes explain much of this. The hard part is finding which gene differences set one person up for PTSD and make another tough.
We need to know how the neurons of PTSD patients differ from those of people who handle stress well. That is the key to post traumatic stress disorder treatment that works. Gene-editing tools are also getting better. Soon, gene editing or gene therapy may be common. But first, we must find the exact genes behind PTSD. Knowing exactly how it works may also point to treatments that work.
Science already knows a lot about stress. Certain hormones play an important role in stress-related illness. In long-term stress, cortisol and other corticosteroids play a key role. The body pumps out too much of them when stress drags on. But high stress hormones alone do not explain why people get PTSD.
In some people, high stress hormones cause no mental health problems like PTSD. But studies of brains after death tell a different story. In people with PTSD, neurons are more sensitive to stress hormones like cortisol or glucocorticoids. This oversensitivity makes some people more likely to show signs of PTSD.
But studies of a dead brain have limits. The idea must be tested on living brain cells. That is hard to do. You cannot safely pull cells out of the brain of a living person with PTSD.
So researchers used a smarter method. They wanted to test whether glucocorticoid sensitivity is tied to PTSD. They used stem cells from PTSD patients to grow young brain cells.
These neurons grown from stem cells are like the brain cells those people had before PTSD. So they show how the brain cells of people prone to PTSD react to stress. It is almost like a time machine. These cells carry every weakness the patients had since birth. But they are not yet mature brain cells changed by PTSD.
This lets researchers pin down the risk factors. They can rule out changes caused by PTSD itself. These cells are fairly healthy, yet still prone to PTSD.
In the tests, brain cells grown from the stem cells of people with PTSD were more sensitive to glucocorticosteroids. Researchers also traced this to specific genes. Those genes shape the glucocorticoid response seen in PTSD.
This study broke new ground. It showed that stem cells from PTSD patients could be used to study how PTSD works at the molecular level. They could help show how stress responses work. They could also be used to screen drugs and find treatments that work.
Frequently asked questions
How do people with PTSD respond to stress?
Their brain cells overreact to stress hormones. Studies of brains after death found that neurons in people with PTSD are more sensitive to cortisol and other glucocorticoids. Brain cells grown from PTSD patients’ own stem cells showed the same oversensitivity. Researchers traced it to specific genes that shape how those cells respond to glucocorticoids.
Why do some people develop PTSD after trauma and others don’t?
Two people can live through the same kind of event, and only one develops PTSD. High stress hormones alone do not explain it. Many people with high levels never get PTSD. What sets people apart is how sensitive their neurons are to those hormones. That sensitivity is partly written into their genes.
Is PTSD genetic?
Genes play a real part. Some people are genetically prone to PTSD and tolerate stress responses poorly. In this study, neurons grown from patients’ stem cells carried the weaknesses those patients had since birth. These cells came from before PTSD changed their brains. They were still oversensitive to glucocorticoids. That points to a risk that is there before the trauma happens.
What does this research mean for PTSD treatment?
Finding the exact genes behind stress-hormone sensitivity is the first step. It leads to treatment aimed at the cause, not just the symptoms. Neurons grown from stem cells also give researchers living cells to test drugs on. No one has to give up brain tissue. As gene-editing tools improve, knowing those genes could one day make gene therapy possible.
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
