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NIMH awards grant for treatment of hyperarousal in PTSD
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine recently received a grant from the NIMH to research and develop a drug treatment for hyperarousal in individuals with PTSD.
“This grant is what we call a phased innovation grant,” study researcher Sanjay Mathew, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, said in a press release. “In the first phase, the aim is to test whether a novel drug or intervention engages a brain target in patients with PTSD. Then, if it does, the second phase is a clinical trial in which testing begins in a larger group of patients with the condition.”
The grant will provide more than $1.35 million over 2 years and is eligible for a 3-year extension if certain requirements are met.
Mathew and colleagues will use anxiety potentiated startle to assess startle, an aspect of hyperarousal, in individuals with PTSD.
After measuring hyperarousal, researchers will assess efficacy of the new drug, which is administered intravenously. They will also assess biomarkers of brain activity via EEG.
“Some PTSD patients have elevated hyperarousal, or are hypervigilant, while other patients are more avoidant,” Mathew said in the release. “The idea with our research is to find a group of individuals who have high startle before the treatment as a way to narrow the group of patients. As a result, this drug and this treatment may not be suitable for everybody but it may be particularly effective in those who have high startle. By narrowing the phenotype of PTSD we can possibly develop more precise, selective drugs that target specific problems.”