Routine blood tests show 16 markers tied to PTSD across multiple organ systems

A new study from Mass General Brigham, the Broad Trauma Initiative, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found 16 blood biomarkers consistently linked to PTSD — all already on standard clinical lab panels: cholesterol, glucose, liver enzymes, albumin, bilirubin, white and red cell counts, the kind of routine results that stack up in a patient's chart during any ordinary physical.

The researchers pulled data from 23,743 adults in the Mass General Brigham Biobank, cross-referencing genomic risk scores for PTSD against actual diagnostic histories. The genetic analysis pointed in one direction: PTSD appears to drive changes in these biomarkers, not the other way around, according to findings published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Untreated PTSD reshapes cardiometabolic, immune, and liver health, the study suggests — bodily damage that shows up in routine labs long before anyone connects it back to trauma. Lead author Younga (Heather) Lee, Ph.D., an instructor in the Mass General Brigham Department of Psychiatry, said PTSD appears to sit upstream of these systemic changes rather than result from them, and that the multi-system damage is why "untreated PTSD can have such devastating effects on patients' overall health."

A standard lab panel that a primary care doctor already orders could eventually flag PTSD risk before a patient ever mentions trauma. The next step is validating these markers in larger, more diverse populations before any clinical rollout.

Previously:

• Classic video game an effective treatment for PTSD
• Smoking toad venom helps veterans with PTSD, addiction, and depression
• FDA denies approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD