Is plasma GABA level a biomarker of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) severity? A preliminary study.

OBJECTIVES: An increased reactivity to the environment is observed in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It would be related to impairment of the Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) neurotransmission. The study aimed to evaluate plasma GABA concentration as a candidate for PTSD severity biomarker. METHODS: This hypothesis was studied in 17 PTSD patients and 17 healthy Controls using classic and emotional Stroop paradigms. Plasma GABA concentrations were assessed before and after both Stroop tests to evaluate GABA basal tone and GABA reactivity (change in GABAp), respectively. RESULTS: During baseline, PTSD had lower plasma GABA concentrations than the Controls. After the Stroop conflicts GABA reactivity was also lower in PTSD than in the Controls. The GABA baseline tone was negatively correlated with the severity of the PTSD symptoms. This relation was only marginally observed for GABA reactivity. The results produced a trend due to the small size of the sample compared to the number of statistical results given. CONCLUSION: Altogether, the reduced GABA concentration observed in PTSD could be considered as a possible biomarker for PTSD severity.

[Rehabilitation and reintegration of soldiers injured on deployment]. / Réadaptation et réinsertion des militaires blessés en operation.

The participation of the French army in the Afghan conflict has highlighted the need for discussion and action regarding the pathway, rehabilitation and reintegration of soldiers who have been physically or psychologically injured. Clinical experience demonstrates that difficulties are less likely to appear during the initial treatment phase than later on, when there is less group support and there are fewer visible effects of the recognition on the part of the institution. It is important to strengthen the links between healthcare personnel and institutional players, in order to optimise the medical and social care of these war casualties.

[Psychological impact on French soldiers in the Central African Republic]. / Retentissement psychique chez les militaires français en Centrafrique.

The many constraints and psychologically demanding situations to which French soldiers are subjected (living conditions, operational pace, scenes of exaction, hostile crowds, combat situations) have justified a psychiatrist being posted to the theatre of operation Sangaris, in the Central African Republic, soon after the military intervention began. While the psychiatrist's activity is typical of psychiatry in operational situations,.the configuration of the conflict- a civil war - and its impact on the psyche of the soldiers making up the task force have resulted in these practices being adapted and acknowledgement of the need to update skills.

[States of acute stress of soldiers in operational situations]. / Les états de stress aigu chez les militaires en opération.

Being a member of the armed forces means being confronted with violent events. For some this can lead to subjective destabilisation, a frequent clinical expression of which is a state of acute stress. In operational situations, treatment is provided as early as possible through the joint action of the army psychiatrist and the armed forces medical teams, using individual and/or collective treatment approaches. After the initial treatment, an assessment of the soldier's capacity to continue the mission is carried out.

[Head nurse at Kabul military hospital]. / Cadre de santé à l'hôpital militaire de Kaboul.

The French medical and surgical army hospital in Kabul supports coalition armed forces and delivers care to the local population. Technical and human managerial experience is essential for the position of head nurse whose role is central to the preparation of paramedical teams before deployment. Once deployed, working in an international environment, the head nurse has many missions to carry out, some routine while others, in a context of crisis are more out of the ordinary.

[The long-term course of psychological trauma: a multiplicity of outcomes]. / Les traumatismes psychiques à long terme: évolutions plurielles.

The evolving severity of psychical trauma is measured on a scale of many years. It is assessed in relation to the upheaval that the traumatic event introduces in the life of a subject: in terms of the prior organization of his psychical life as in the relationships that he maintains with his social circle.

[Medico-legal aspects of post traumatic disorders and their after-effects]. / Aspects médico-légaux des traumatismes psychiques et de leurs séquelles.

The psycho-traumatic situations are numerous with sometimes very invalidating consequences for the subjects which were exposed. The question arises then of a possible repair. The stacks are different for every wounded person. It could'nt be possible to envisage them only under the angle of a financial compensation. The medico-legal expertise is an essential phase in the progress towards a possible taken out of the influence of the trauma. The decree of January 10, 1992 concerning the repair of the war psychological troubles opens a new area in the consideration of a very actual problem.