Differential conditioned fear response predicts duloxetine treatment outcome in male veterans with PTSD: a pilot study

Deane E Aikins; Eric D Jackson; Alicia Christensen; Espen Walderhaug; Sonia Afroz; Alexander Neumeister

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.05.009

Differential conditioned fear response predicts duloxetine treatment outcome in male veterans with PTSD: a pilot study

Psychiatry Res. 2011 Aug 15;188(3):453-5. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.05.009. Epub 2011 May 26.

Authors

Deane E Aikins¹, Eric D Jackson, Alicia Christensen, Espen Walderhaug, Sonia Afroz, Alexander Neumeister

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. [email protected]

PMID: 21620486
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.05.009

Abstract

This pilot study tested whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients with impaired conditioned fear acquisition were refractory to open-label duloxetine treatment. Patients with a differential conditioned fear response at pre-treatment subsequently demonstrated significant reductions in PTSD symptoms. These data provide initial evidence of a putative biomarker of selective treatment response in PTSD.

Publication types

Clinical Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antidepressive Agents / therapeutic use*
Conditioning, Psychological*
Duloxetine Hydrochloride
Fear*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Pilot Projects
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / drug therapy
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / psychology
Thiophenes / therapeutic use*
Veterans

Substances

Antidepressive Agents
Thiophenes
Duloxetine Hydrochloride