Common drug helps to reduce stress
Print Edition
A COMMON antibiotic called doxycycline can disrupt the formation of negative thoughts and fears and may prove useful in treating or preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research by British and Swiss scientists.
In a trial involving 76 volunteers given either the drug or a placebo, those on doxycycline had a 60 percent lower fear response than those who were not.
Scientists said the antibiotic blocks certain proteins outside nerve cells, called matrix enzymes, which our brains need to form memories.
“We have demonstrated a proof-of-principle for an entirely new treatment strategy for PTSD,” said Dominik Bach, a professor at University College London and the University of Zurich.
Volunteers given the antibiotic or placebo were put in front of a computer. The screen would flash blue or red, with one of the colors associated with a chance of getting an electric shock. After 160 random flashes, participants learned to associate the “bad” color with the shock.
A week later, under no medication, the volunteers repeated the experiment. This time there were no electric shocks.
The fear response was 60 percent lower in those who had been given doxycycline in the first session.
“When we talk about reducing fear memory, we’re not talking about deleting the memory of what actually happened,” Bach said.
“The participants may not forget that they received a shock when the screen was red, but they ‘forget’ to be instinctively scared when they next see a red screen.”
Learning to fear is important, Bach said, helping to avoid danger. But over-prediction of threat “can cause tremendous suffering and distress in disorders such as PTSD.”
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