Mineralocorticoid receptor function in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The study examined whether enhanced limbic mineralocorticoid receptor activity resulting in negative glucocorticoid feedback could contribute to the diminished basal and stress-induced cortisol output reported in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


METHODS
The effects of acute antimineralocorticoid (spironolactone) versus placebo pretreatment on levels of plasma cortisol at baseline and after stimulations with corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and on adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level were measured in 12 PTSD patients and 12 healthy comparison subjects.


RESULTS
Spironolactone significantly elevated basal cortisol and ACTH concentrations as well as cortisol secretion after CRH stimulation, but no differential effect between PTSD patients and comparison subjects was detected.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate intact, but not enhanced, mineralocorticoid receptor function in PTSD. The study's experimental conditions did not allow determination of whether other compensatory factors might have masked the putative mineralocorticoid receptor changes.
Kellner
Michael
M
Depatment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Baker
Dewleen G
DG
Yassouridis
Alexander
A
Bettinger
Silke
S
Otte
Christian
C
Naber
Dieter
D
Wiedemann
Klaus
K
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011292:Premedication; D018161:Receptors, Mineralocorticoid / Q000502:physiology*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013148:Spironolactone; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*
D018161:Receptors, Mineralocorticoid; D013148:Spironolactone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone