Post-traumatic stress disorder: Hypotheses from clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology research

Characteristic features of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include intrusive memories, avoidance, memory and concentration difficulties, and hyperalertness. Neuropsychological investigations of individuals with PTSD have suggested global nod specific impairments of performance on standardized tests of memory. The use of the Emotional Stroop test has shown that trauma-related words are a sensitive measure of clinical state in PTSD patients. The Stroop paradigm has also shown that patients with PTSD appear to be characterized by implicit, explicit and autobiographical memory impairment. Available treatments for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder include cognitive-behaviour therapy, psychodynamic therapy and pharmacotherapy. Whereas dr-tig treatment alone can rarely alleviate the suffering in PTSD, it appears to be most useful as an adjunct to psychotherapy. Tricyclic antidepressants ave generally thought to be effective in alleviating symptoms, including nightmares, depression, sleep disorders and startle reactions, but are less able to relieve numbing. On the other hand, selective re-uptake blockers may be effective in decreasing numbing, However, rigorous clinical trials with double-blind placebo-controlled designs need to be performed to confirm these results. With new scientific discoveries in the understanding of PTSD, a new generation of pharmacological treatment is likely to emerge

Bioconversion des steroiedes

SIGLEINIST AR 13521 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

A gasometric method to determine erythrocyte catalase activity

We describe a new gasometric method to determine erythrocyte catalase activity by the measurement of the volume of oxygen produced as a result of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in a system where enzyme and substrate are separated in a special reaction test tube connected to a manometer and the reagents are mixed with a motor-driven stirrer. The position of the reagents in the test tube permits the continuous measurement of oxygen evolution from the time of mixing, without the need to stop the reaction by the addition of acid after each incubation time. The enzyme activity is reported as KHb, i.e., mg hydrogen peroxide decomposed per second per gram of hemoglobin (s-1 g Hb-1). The value obtained for catalase activity in 28 samples of hemolyzed human blood was 94.4 ± 6.17 mg H2O2 s-1 g Hb-1. The results obtained were precise and consistent, indicating that this rapid, simple and inexpensive method could be useful for research and routine work