Blood pressure drug could cure post-traumatic stress

THE ESSENTIAL

• The treatment of post-traumatic stress today involves psychotherapy and sometimes taking antidepressants.
• This disorder concerns between 5 and 12% of the population.
• In 20% of cases, post-traumatic stress becomes chronic.

A drug can have many uses, and some are discovered years later. This is the case of clonidine, a drug used to treathigh blood pressure and attention deficit disorder for over 50 years. According to the findings of research published in Molecular Psychiatryit may also be effective in the treatment of post-traumatic stress.

What is clonidine, this anti-hypertension drug?

Clonidine acts on adrenergic receptors in the brain. However, they are involved in the post-traumatic stress. According to the authors of the study, they might consolidate the traumatic memory. The team of Medical College of Georgia from the University of Augusta (United States) was therefore interested in the effects of clonidine on post-traumatic stress, and those of guanfacine, another drug capable of acting on these specific receptors. Two types of tests were carried out: tests on genetically modified mice and others on neurones from human stem cells.

Post-traumatic stress: 2 anti-hypertensive drugs tested

In the study, mice received a mild shock and then were treated with clonidine immediately following returning to the site of the choc. “Clonidine-treated mice had a significantly reduced response, (…) compared to untreated mice when brought back to the scene, analyze the authors. In fact, their response was more like mice that had never been shocked..”

Guanfacine had no effect on this behavior. The researchers say they cannot know for certain how much mouse remember what happened. However, they indicate that it is “clear that those treated with clonidine did not have the same overt reaction as untreated mice or those receiving guanfacine.”.

The drug appears to have reduced their memory of shock, which is the goal of post-traumatic stress treatments. “The goal is not to erase memories like those of war, but rather to lessen their disruptive effects on a soldier’s life.”observes Qin Wang, lead author of the research.

Clonidine to “reduce the strength of a bad memory”

When a person returns to the scene of a shock, such as an accident, the synapses of the neurons, which carry the memory of what happened, become unstable, and then the memory stabilizes once more. “This natural dynamic offers an opportunity to intervene in the reconsolidation and thus less diminish the strength of a bad memory.“, estime Qin Wang.

It is for this specific purpose that the scientific team wishes to use clonidine. In addition, adrenergic drugs such as clonidine bind to receptors of central nervous system to reduce blood levels of stress hormones, which increase blood pressure and heart rate. For the authors, clonidine might become an effective treatment for people suffering from a post-traumatic stress linked to the pandemic, or to older causes like wars.