Three Advocate Aurora Health researchers recently received a $40,000 research grant from Cures Within Reach to study a potential post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment for veterans.
Cures Within Reach is a Chicago-based nonprofit that finds and funds trials exploring if commercially available drugs and medical devices can be effectively repurposed as therapies for other diseases and medical conditions that lack adequate treatment options.
This study will investigate whether clonidine – a drug traditionally used to treat high blood pressure and sometimes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – can be effectively repurposed to improve symptoms, particularly sleep-related behaviors, in veterans with PTSD.
Lifetime PTSD rates for U.S. military veterans range between 10 and 31%, according to previous studies, and veterans with PTSD are more likely to face substance abuse, anger issues, mental health disorders, relationship instability, unemployment and suicidal ideation.
“PTSD has been recognized in veterans for decades, but current first-line treatments are only effective in some patients,” said Gregory Burek, MD, Medical Director for Advocate Aurora’s Veterans Retraining Program and Advocate Aurora Research Institute’s principal investigator for the study. “There is a clear clinical need for new PTSD therapies, particularly related to symptoms of hyperarousal and disrupted sleep.”
Symptoms of hyperarousal, such as distressing flashbacks and sleep disturbances, have been associated with increased presence of the naturally occurring chemical norepinephrine, which is responsible for the fight or flight response. Previous research has demonstrated that medications that block norepinephrine are effective at improving sleep and reducing PTSD symptoms in many veterans.
“Clonidine works differently than other medications used to treat PTSD, which are typically antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, that have shown inconsistent impact on nighttime PTSD symptoms,” said coinvestigator Michael Fendrich, PhD, Director of Scientific Research for the Research Institute.
Clonidine has been safely used for decades to treat hypertension. However, no clinical trial has ever evaluated the use of clonidine specifically for PTSD with symptoms of hyperarousal or sleep disturbances.
Dr. Burek previously conducted a retrospective study on the use of clonidine in treating veterans with PTSD. In 2021, he published study results in the Journal of Psychiatric Research that found patients with PTSD at a midwestern Veteran Affairs hospital who were prescribed low-dose clonidine demonstrated significant reductions in the severity of their PTSD symptoms as measured according to the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale. After treatment with low-dose clonidine, 72% of patients experienced improvement, and 49% scored “much improved” or “very much improved.”
Advocate Aurora psychologist Lisa Cottrell, PhD, is also a coinvestigator on the study. Researchers plan to enroll 30 participants at the Advocate Aurora Health Veterans Retraining Program in Wisconsin.
As a condition of the grant, Advocate Aurora Health will contribute $10,000 in institutional funding for the study.
“With the help of Cures Within Reach, Advocate Aurora Research Institute and Advocate Aurora Behavioral Health Services are excited to support this important research,” said Denise Angst, PhD, RN, Vice President of Academic Research and Strategic Partnerships. “We’re hopeful that results from this pilot study will be used to develop a larger clinical trial testing the effectiveness of this potential treatment for those who suffer from PTSD.”
To learn more about Advocate Aurora’s research, visit aah.org/research.