A New Way to Treat PTSD?
upstart writes:
Exposure to a traumatic experience can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an incapacitating disorder in susceptible persons with no reliable therapy. Particularly puzzling is understanding how transient exposure to trauma creates persistent long- term suffering from PTSD and why some people are susceptible to PTSD while others that were exposed to the same trauma remain resilient.
[...] The researchers first mapped 'epigenetic DNA methylation marks' in a brain region which is important for PTSD. They found distinct epigenetic differences between animals that were exposed to trauma and were resilient, and those animals that were exposed to trauma and were susceptible and developed PTSD-like behavior. The researchers found that an important 'epigenetic' enzyme that transfers methyl groups onto DNA, DNMT3A, is reduced in animals that are susceptible to PTSD. The researchers also searched for groups of genes whose methylation is altered in the PTSD susceptible animals and found that one group of genes is controlled by the retinoic acid receptor which is activated by vitamin A. Indeed, delivering DNMT3A or retinoic acid orphan receptor gene into the animal brains reverses the PTSD-like phenotypes, suggesting that these genes that are differentially methylated are responsible for PTSD behavior.
Injecting brains with genes is still not a feasible therapeutic option. Therefore, the authors tested whether nutritional supplements that mimic the activity of these genes could treat and reverse PTSD in susceptible animals. Since DNMT3A increases DNA methylation, the researchers used a natural product that donates methyl groups S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) and to activate the retinoic acid receptor they treated the animals with vitamin A. They found that combined treatment with the methyl donor SAM and retinoic acid reversed PTSD-like behaviors.
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