NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY BASED URINARY METABOLIC PROFILING IN POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER RATS

Though at present, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stands to be one of the major mental debilitating psychiatric disorders, however, its clinical diagnosis remains unachieved due to the absence of any biological marker. Hence, this study is aimed at the identification of putative biological underpinnings of PTSD through the metabonomic approach. For this purpose, the animal model based NMR spectroscopy approach was undertaken for profiling of urine samples, for classification of metabolic changes brought about in body due to PTSD. Multivariate statistical analysis techniques, namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) were performed on 1H NMR spectral data, which was obtained from both rat urine sets that are, before and after exposing the rats to Underwater Trauma (UT) for PTSD. The behavioral changes were measured and recorded by conducting the Open Field Test (OFT). PCA showed partial separation with PC1 = 49.8% and PC2 = 21.7%, however PLSDA completely separated both urine sets with R² = 0.9 and Q² = 0.8. Eight endogenous metabolites were tracked whose concentration attenuated majorly post PTSD, about the changes recorded. The metabolites included citrate, hippurate, aspartate, n-methyl nicotinamide, betaine, creatine, creatinine, and β- hydroxybutyrate. OFT indicated heightened anxiety behavioral changes brought about in post-trauma rats. The metabolites explored were primarily involved with energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, and intestinal microflora metabolism. These observations enable to assess the changes in the physiology of PTSD by evaluating the concentration of these metabolites in urine. This study would have an imperative role in assessing the biological underpinnings of PTSD and can further be taken into account for developing, the clinical screening parameters for PTSD.