Stress Hormone Linked to PTSD Symptoms in Women: MedlinePlus

Stress Hormone Linked to PTSD Symptoms in Women
Finding may lead to new ways to diagnose, treat disorder, researchers say

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_109151.html(*this news item will not be available after 05/24/2011)

By Robert Preidt
Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Related MedlinePlus Pages

Hormones
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Women's Health


WEDNESDAY, Feb. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Women, but not men, with post-traumatic stress disorder have high blood levels of a stress-related hormone, new research shows.

The hormone -- pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) -- is known to affect central nervous system activity, metabolism, blood pressure, pain sensitivity and immune function.

In the new study, published in the Feb. 24 issue of Nature, researchers assessed 64 people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and found that symptom scores were five times higher among women with above-average PACAP levels than among women with below-average PACAP levels.

The team also found that, due to genetic variations, PTSD may be triggered by different biological pathways in women and men.

The finding that PACAP levels are an indicator of PTSD symptoms may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat PTSD and other anxiety disorders, the study authors noted.

"Few biological markers have been available for PTSD or for psychiatric diseases in general. These results give us a new window into the biology of PTSD," first author Dr. Kerry Ressler, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

SOURCE: Emory University, news release, Feb. 23, 2011

HealthDay
Copyright (c) 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Stress Hormone Linked to PTSD Symptoms in Women: MedlinePlus