engleski

Biomarkers of sleep disturbances in PTSD

Introduction: A large portion of patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffer from sleep disturbances which further negatively impact the quality of life for people suffering from PTSD. Various neurotransmitters, including serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine, are involved in regulating sleep and wakefulness. Materials and methods: The study included 362 male war veterans with current and chronic combat-related PTSD. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and The Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety were used as clinical measures of sleep disturbances. Platelet 5-HT concentration was determined using ortho-phthalaldehyde-enhanced fluorometric method and plasma dopamine beta- hydroxylase (DBH) activity was determined by a photometric method. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of polymorphic loci in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene was performed to determine short (S) and long (L) allele carriers. Genotyping of 5HT2A 102T/C polymorphism was performed with Applied Biosystems SNP genotyping assays. Results: Platelet 5-HT concentration was significantly higher in veterans with early (P=0.001) and late (P=0.017) insomnia compared to veterans without early/late insomnia, while plasma DBH concentration was significantly (P=0.001) higher in veterans with late insomnia. Results show a significantly (P=0.019) higher frequency of the 5-HTT LL genotype in veterans with early insomnia, and a significantly (P=0.030) higher frequency of the 5HT2A 102T/C CC genotype in veterans with late insomnia, compared to other subjects. Conclusions: This study contributes to the clarification of the role of 5-HT and dopamine in modulation of wakefulness and sleep, since the biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between sleep disruption and poor psychiatric outcome in PTSD are still unknown.

dopamine ; PTSD ; serotonin ; sleep disturbances

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