Cannabis Effects on PTSD: Can Smoking Medical Marijuana Reduce Symptoms
Can ecstasy treat the agony of PTSD?
Can a Failed Schizophrenia Drug Prevent PTSD?
http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/news/2014/08/biomarker-could-predict-ptsd-risk?
Blood expression levels of genes targeted by the stress hormones called glucocorticoids could be a physical measure, or biomarker, of risk for developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to a study conducted in rats by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). That also makes the steroid hormones’ receptor, the glucocorticoid receptor, a potential target for new drugs.
PTSD is triggered by a terrifying event, either witnessed or
experienced. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe
anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Not
everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD, which is why the study
aimed to identify biomarkers that could better measure each person’s
vulnerability to the disorder.
“Our aim was to determine which genes are differentially expressed
in relation to PTSD,” said lead investigator Rachel Yehuda, professor of
psychiatry and neuroscience and director of the Traumatic Stress
Studies Division at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“We found that most of the genes and pathways that are different in
PTSD-like animals compared to resilient animals are related to the
glucocorticoid receptor, which suggests we might have identified a
therapeutic target for treatment of PTSD,” said Yehuda, who also heads
the Mental Health Patient Care Center and PTSD Research Program at the
James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx.
The research team exposed a group of male and female rats to litter
soiled by cat urine, a predatory scent that mimics a life-threatening
situation. Most PTSD studies until now have used only male rats. Mount
Sinai researchers included female rats in this study since women are
more vulnerable than men to developing PTSD. The rats were then
categorized based on their behavior one week after exposure to the
scent. The authors also examined patterns of gene expression in the
blood and in stress-responsive brain regions.
After one week of being exposed to soiled cat litter for 10
minutes, vulnerable rats exhibited higher anxiety and hyperarousal, and
showed altered glucocorticoid receptor signaling in all tissues compared
with resilient rats. Moreover, some rats were treated with a hormone
that activates the glucocorticoid receptor called corticosterone one
hour after exposure to the cat urine scent. These rats showed lower
levels of anxiety and arousal one week later compared with untreated,
trauma-exposed rats.
“PTSD is not just a disorder that affects the brain,” said
co-investigator Nikolaos Daskalakis, associate research scientist in the
department of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Sinai. “It involves the entire body, which is why identifying common
regulators is key. The glucocorticoid receptor is the one common
regulator that consistently stood out.”
No comments:
Post a Comment