Biomarkers are found in the brains of PTSD patients that indicate 'thinking about suicide'
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a stress disorder that causes severe distress and disrupts life due to a strong mental impact that threatens life. By scanning the brain of such PTSD patients, biomarkers have been discovered that can determine if the PTSD patients are considering suicide.
In vivo evidence for dysregulation of mGluR5 as a biomarker of suicidal ideation | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/05/07/1818871116
Brain Scans Reveal Potential Biomarker of Suicidal Thoughts in People with PTSD
https://www.livescience.com/65493-ptsd-suicidal-thoughts-biomarker.html
In general, PTSD patients are more likely to have suicidal ideation, to attempt suicide, or to die from suicide. Until now, no biological mechanism has been identified to increase the risk of suicide for PTSD patients, but the research team at Yale University is a brain receptor that is more common in the brain of PTSD patients than the general population. We focused on metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR5) .
mGluR5 is a receptor that responds to glutamate and neurotransmitters, affecting a wide range of processes such as learning, memory, sleep and cognitive function. The team measured brain expression levels of mGluR5 in 29 participants with PTSD, 29 with depression but not PTSD, and 29 participants without mental illness. Seems to have done an experiment.
First, on the day of the brain scan, the research team asked participants if they had a suicidal idea. Among those who were asked, those with positive suicidal ideations who said, 'I want to die soon', 'I have a plan for how to die already', etc., do not have a brain scan. She was immediately transferred to the emergency room and was given care. On the other hand, as planned, brain scans were performed for those who reported passive idea of suicide such as 'Don't mind dying' and 'I think I should die' and those who did not report suicide ideation.
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As a result of brain scan, PTSD patients were found to express high levels of mGluR5 on the surface of brain cells as compared with healthy people and patients with depression as conventional findings. Furthermore, among PTSD patients, among those with and without suicidal ideation, those with suicidal ideation were found to have increased mGluR5 levels. The difference in mGluR5 with or without this suicidal ideation was not confirmed in people other than PTSD patients.
The findings suggest that mGluR5 expression levels in the brain can be a biomarker that indicates the presence or absence of suicidal ideation in PTSD patients. Irina Esterlis, a neuroscientist at Yale University who participated in the study said, “The discovery of biomarkers specific to PTSD patients may pave the way for the development of drugs to treat suicidal ideation in PTSD patients. It does not say.
Christine DeLorenzo, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at New York State University Stony Brook, who did not participate in the study, responded that the findings are very exciting. 'The results indicate that mGluR5 is not only a biomarker that indicates risk, but it can also be a target for therapeutic intervention,' he said.
by Gerd Altmann
It is said that drugs targeting mGluR5 have already been developed, but from the results of animal experiments there are times when patient anxiety may be increased, so Mr. Esterlis will immediately use drugs for PTSD patients. Is against. Instead of targeting mGluR5 directly, Esterlis wants to work on ways to indirectly target mGluR5 by acting on hormones that affect mGluR5.
In this study, it is not clear whether mGluR5 expression level is linked to the intensity of suicidal ideation or how mGluR5 or suicidal ideation has changed with the passage of time. The team said.
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