title: Searching for non-genetic molecular and imaging PTSD risk and resilience markers: Systematic review of literature and design of the German Armed Forces PTSD biomarker study.
abstract: Biomarkers allowing the identification of individuals with an above average vulnerability or resilience for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) would especially serve populations at high risk for trauma exposure like firefighters, police officers and combat soldiers. Aiming to identify the most promising putative PTSD vulnerability markers, we conducted the first systematic review on potential imaging and non-genetic molecular markers for PTSD risk and resilience. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically screened the PubMed database for prospective longitudinal clinical studies and twin studies reporting on pre-trauma and post-trauma PTSD risk and resilience biomarkers. Using 25 different combinations of search terms, we retrieved 8151 articles of which we finally included and evaluated 9 imaging and 27 molecular studies. In addition, we briefly illustrate the design of the ongoing prospective German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) PTSD biomarker study (Bw-BioPTSD) which not only aims to validate these previous findings but also to identify novel and clinically applicable molecular, psychological and imaging risk, resilience and disease markers for deployment-related psychopathology in a cohort of German soldiers who served in Afghanistan.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany. Electronic address: uschmidt@mpipsykl.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: German Armed Forces Center of Military Mental Health, Scharnhorststrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerd-Dieter
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Willmund
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Holsboer
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany.
authors.forename: Carsten T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Wotjak
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gallinat
authors.affiliation: German Armed Forces Center of Military Mental Health, Scharnhorststrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.affiliation: German Armed Forces Center of Military Mental Health, Scharnhorststrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D065840:Protective Factors; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Biomarkers for PTSD; Combat-related PTSD; German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) PTSD biomarker study (Bw-BioPTSD); PTSD; Post-trauma PTSD risk markers; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Pre-trauma PTSD risk markers; Resilience markers for PTSD; Risk markers for PTSD; Vulnerability markers for PTSD