Chunk #77 — Comorbidity of Post-traumatic stress disorder or major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder and immune signaling — Post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder
Immune-targeted compounds offer a new approach to treat individuals with PTSD and PTSD/AUD. Treatment with minocycline, which also decreases alcohol consumption in rodents (Agrawal et al., 2011), prevents the physiological and behavioral changes resulting from acute exposure to psychological stress in an animal model of PTSD (Levkovitz et al., 2015). Ketamine, in addition to being an NMDA receptor blocker, has anti-inflammatory effects (via inhibition of transcription factor activator protein-1 and NF-κB), and decreases serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, iNOS, and C-reactive protein (CRP) (Potter and Brady, 2014). In patients with chronic PTSD, ketamine infusion rapidly reduces PTSD symptom severity and comorbid depressive symptoms (Feder et al., 2014). These preliminary findings suggest that anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce symptoms of both PTSD and AUD.
