Potential of neuropeptide Y for preventing or treating post-traumatic stress disorder

•NPY in brain can play a critical role in reducing harmful effects of stress.•Many brain areas implicated in mediating NPY's anti-stress effects•Delivery of NPY to brain reduces wide range of impairments in rat PTSD model.•Intranasal NPY is promising noninvasive way to prevent PTSD and comorbid depression.

There is extensive evidence that NPY in the brain can modulate the responses to stress and play a critical role in resistance to, or recovery from, harmful effects of stress. Development of PTSD and comorbid depression following exposure to traumatic stress are associated with low NPY. This review discusses putative mechanisms for NPY's anti-stress actions. Recent preclinical data indicating potential for intranasal delivery of NPY to brain as a promising non-invasive strategy to prevent a variety of neuroendocrine, molecular and behavioral impairments in PTSD model are summarized.