Transtorno do Estresse Pós-Traumático e alterações lipídicas

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and lipid profile changes are the main themes of this Dissertation, whose main purpose was to investigate the association between PTSD and serum lipid concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and Triglycerides (TGs). Additionally, the relationship between these serum lipid parameters and PTSD symptom clusters - re-experiencing, avoidance and hyperarousal was assessed in a second study with primary data. The meta-analysis included 18 articles, for an overall number of 2,110 people with PTSD and 17,550 individuals without PTSD. Pooled weighted mean differences (WMD) - mg/dL - of serum lipid parameters were calculated using random effects model and meta-regression models were fitted to investigate the sources of heterogeneity. The study showed that PTSD was associated with worsened lipid profile when compared to controls without PTSD (DMPCT= 20.57, IC 95% 12.21 28.93; DMPLDL= 12.11, IC 95% 5.89 18.32; DMPHDL= -3.73, IC 95% -5.97 -1.49; DMPTG= 35.87, IC 95% 21.12 50.61). Statistical heterogeneity between the results of the studies was high for all lipid parameters and the variable that most explained these inconsistencies was age. The second article is part of a larger study conducted in 2004 with 157 active duty male police officers of an elite unit of the Police Force of the State of Goiás-Brazil (BPMCHOQUE). Only officers on vacation or on leave including those on sick leave were not assessed. The diagnostic tool applied to screen for PTSD was a Portuguese version of the PTSD Checklist Civilian Version (PCL-C). Thirty nine (25%) participants were excluded: 2 respondents who failed to fill out the questionnaires and 37 whose blood samples were not collected for various reasons. The study found a significant and strong positive correlation between TC and LDL-C with hyperarousal symptom cluster, only in the full PTSD group: ρ= 0.89 (p<.01) and ρ= 0.92 (p<.01), respectively. As a synthesis, the results found in this Dissertation can contribute to a better clinical follow-up of PTSD patients, especially because they appear to be at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases due to worsened serum lipid profile.