Translational medicine strategies in PTSD drug development

Abstract

Once considered a normal response to an abnormal traumatic event, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been reconceptualized in terms of unusual persistence of fear-conditioned responses. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been registered for the treatment of this condition, but they are efficacious in only some patients, and effect sizes for treatment response are relatively low. The ready availability of animal models of fear conditioning, expression, and extinction, together with advances in human studies of the neurocircuitry and neurogenetics of PTSD, potentially paves the way for a translational approach to developing medications for the prevention and treatment of this disorder. Here, we review translational work being undertaken in PTSD, describing some of its presumptive potential, as well as some possible pitfalls