Reductions In Circulating Endocannabinoid Levels In Individuals With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Following Exposure To The Wtc Attacks

[Canadense]

Reductions in circulating endocannabinoid levels in individuals with

post-traumatic stress disorder following exposure to the world trade

center attacks.

Hill

MN

, Bierer

LM

, Makotkine

I

, Golier

JA

, Galea

S

, McEwen

BS

, Hillard

CJ

, Yehuda

R

.

Source

The

Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy and

Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Laboratory of

Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.

Electronic address: mnhill@ucalgary.ca.

Abstract

Endocannabinoid (eCB) signaling has been identified as a

modulator of adaptation to stress, and is integral to basal and

stress-induced glucocorticoid regulation. Furthermore, interactions

between eCBs and glucocorticoids have been shown to be necessary for the

regulation of emotional memories, suggesting that eCB function may

relate to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To

examine this, plasma eCBs were measured in a sample (n=46) drawn from a

population-based cohort selected for physical proximity to the World

Trade Center (WTC) at the time of the 9/11 attacks. Participants

received a structured diagnostic interview and were grouped according to

whether they met diagnostic criteria for PTSD (no PTSD, n=22; lifetime

diagnosis of PTSD=24). eCB content (2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and

anandamide (AEA)) and cortisol were measured from 8 a.m. plasma samples.

Circulating 2-AG content was significantly reduced among individuals

meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The effect of reduced 2-AG content

in PTSD remained significant after controlling for the stress of

exposure to the WTC collapse, gender, depression and alcohol abuse.

There were no significant group differences for AEA or cortisol levels;

however, across the whole sample AEA levels positively correlated with

circulating cortisol, and AEA levels exhibited a negative relationship

with the degree of intrusive symptoms within the PTSD sample. This

report shows that PTSD is associated with a reduction in circulating

levels of the eCB 2-AG. Given the role of 2-AG in the regulation of the

stress response, these data support the hypothesis that deficient eCB

signaling may be a component of the glucocorticoid dysregulation

associated with PTSD. The negative association between AEA levels and

intrusive symptoms is consistent with animal data indicating that

reductions in AEA promote retention of aversive emotional memories.

Future work will aim to replicate these findings and extend their

relevance to clinical pathophysiology, as well as to neuroendocrine and

molecular markers of PTSD.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All

rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

2-Arachidonoylglycerol,

Anandamide, Anxiety, Cortisol, Endocannabinoid, HPA axis,

N-arachidonylethanolamine, PTSD, Stress, Trauma

PMID: 24035186 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24035186

[loucaço]

I used to live within 10 miles from where it all happened, I remember seeing an overall sense of despair among everyone. That stuff really changed people,everyone in the US started having an issue with Islam.

You'd hear about people who lost loved ones there and stories of horror from the survivors and people helping in the rescue and recovering.

There was a friend who was a welder and was helping the blowtorch crew, he said he saw this particular beam that had several people under it, they were all compressed into a completely unrecognizable mass. When something like that happened they'd give the day off to them and close the site to remove all the remains before someone could continue working there.