TY - JOUR
PY - 2019//
TI - The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in PTSD: pathophysiology and treatment interventions
JO - Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry
A1 - Dunlop, Boadie W.
A1 - Wong, Andrea
SP - 361
EP - 379
VL - 89
IS -
N2 - Questions of how altered functioning of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis contribute to the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been the focus of extensive animal and human research. As a rule, results have been inconsistent across studies, likely due to a variety of confounding variables that have received inadequate attention. Important confounding factors include the effects of early life stress, biological sex, and the glucocorticoid used for interventions. In this manuscript we review: 1) the literature on identified abnormalities of HPA axis function in PTSD, both in terms of basal functioning and resulting from challenge paradigms; 2) the role of HPA axis function pre- and immediately post-trauma as a risk factor for PTSD development; 3) the impact of HPA axis genes' allelic variants and epigenetic modifications on PTSD risk; 4) the contributions of HPA axis components to fear learning and extinction; and 5) therapeutic manipulations of the HPA axis to both prevent and treat PTSD, including the role of glucocorticoids as part of medication enhanced psychotherapy.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0278-5846 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.10.010 ID - ref1 ER -