Psychopharmacological treatment for military posttraumatic stress disorder: An integrative review (original) (raw)

“…While the pathophysiology of PTSD is poorly understood, dysregulated signaling of the stress-related neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) has been identified as a key biomarker underlying PTSD symptomatology (Geracioti et al, 2001; Kosten, Mason, Giller, Ostroff, & Harkness, 1987; Southwick et al, 1997, 1999; Yehuda, Southwick, Giller, Ma, & Mason, 1992). However, the only FDA approved treatments for PTSD are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil), which have limited efficacy (Tawa & Murphy, 2013). Nonetheless, pharmacotherapies that either dampen NE transmission, such as the α1-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin, the α2 agonist clonidine, and the non-selective β antagonist propranolol, or enhance NE transmission such as the α2 antagonist yohimbine, have shown some success in diminishing the exaggerated fear responding associated with PTSD (Belkin & Schwartz, 2015; Morris & Bouton, 2007; Powers, Smits, Otto, Sanders, & Emmelkamp, 2009; Raskind et al, 2003; Strawn & Geracioti, 2008; Tawa & Murphy, 2013; Taylor, Freeman, & Cates, 2008; Wangelin, Powers, Smits, & Tuerk, 2013).…”