Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:1324-1327
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Cyclic AMP signal transduction in posttraumatic stress disorder
B Lerer, RP Ebstein, M Shestatsky, Z Shemesh and D Greenberg
Jerusalem Mental Health Center-Ezrath Nashim, Israel.
Cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) signal transduction was
examined in lymphocytes and platelets obtained from patients with
posttraumatic stress disorder. Intact lymphocytes from the posttraumatic
patients (N = 10) showed significantly lower basal, isoproterenol-, and
forskolin-stimulated cAMP levels than those from 10 healthy control
subjects. In platelet membrane preparations, basal, forskolin-, aluminum
chloride plus sodium fluoride-, and prostaglandin E1-stimulated adenylate
cyclase activity levels were all significantly lower in the posttraumatic
group than in the control group. The authors discuss the potential role of
their findings as a biological marker for posttraumatic stress disorder.
