Post-traumatic stress disorder damage controllable with Prazosin

Prazosin, a drug for treating prostate enlargement and high blood pressure, may be an effective option to protect the brain from possible damage resulting from post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and schizophrenia.

It was remarked by study co-author S. Paul Berger, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, OHSU School of Medicine and the PVAMC, that prazosin can prove its worth by protecting the brain from any damage due to excessive levels of corticosteroid stress hormones.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Our hypothesis is that just being afraid of being blown up all the time means you have high levels of steroids all the time,” Berger said, referring to PTSD among military personnel.

Low levels of glucocorticoids have anti-inflammatory effects in the brain, but high levels can trigger inflammatory mechanisms that damage nerve cells by activating an enzyme that causes oxidative stress. Even a single exposure to a high dose of glucocorticoids can be sufficient to damage nerve cells: A previous study showed synthetic glucocorticoid therapy to treat autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis can induce mood disorders, including psychosis, and cognitive impairment known as “steroid dementia” in severe forms.

To determine the effects of prazosin, OHSU and PVAMC researchers, led by Altaf Darvesh, Ph.D., formerly of the OHSU Department of Psychiatry, administered a glucocorticoid called dexamethasone to rats, then measured the expression of a protein known as heat shock protein 70, or HSP70, that serves as a marker for neurotoxicity. Pretreatment with prazosin, an alpha-1 receptor antagonist, resulted in “significant” slowing of dexamethasone-induced expression in the cerebral cortex.

Berger further remarked that future research will be examining how steroids pose a threat to the brain and when prazosin should be administered to most effectively protect the brain against damage.x

Tags: corticosteroid, Prazosin, Steroids

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