Bedtime doses of prazosin do not affect daytime salivary amylase markers in PTSD
William Vaughn McCall,
Anilkumar Pillai,
Chirayu D. Pandya,
Laryssa McCloud,
Jason A. Moraczewski,
Liniya Tauhidul,
Nagy A. Youssef,
Doug Case,
Peter B. Rosenquist
Affiliations
William Vaughn McCall
Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 997 St Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA; Corresponding author.
Anilkumar Pillai
Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 997 St Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
Chirayu D. Pandya
Medical Laboratory, Imaging, and Radiologic Sciences Department, College of Allied Health Sciences, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA
Laryssa McCloud
Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 997 St Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
Jason A. Moraczewski
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA
Liniya Tauhidul
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA
Nagy A. Youssef
Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 997 St Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
Doug Case
Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, USA
Peter B. Rosenquist
Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 997 St Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
Overactivity of the noradrenergic (NE) system within the central nervous system (CNS) has been postulated as a key pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The activity of the enzyme salivary α-amylase (sAA) has been proposed as an indirect measure of CNS NE activity, and sAA is elevated in PTSD. As an antagonist of the α-1 NE receptor, prazosin would be expected to alter sAA values in PTSD patients. However, given its short half-life, it is not clear whether bedtime doses would have an effect on daytime sAA. In the present study, we assayed daytime sAA in 20 suicidal PTSD patients who were randomized to prazosin versus placebo at bedtime-only, and found no effect in daytime sAA. These findings are consistent with studies showing an advantage for twice daily dosing of prazosin in PTSD.
