Regional brain responses to serotonin in major depressive disorder

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 82; no. 3; pp. 411 - 417
• Main Authors: Anderson, Amy D., Oquendo, Maria A., Parsey, Ramin V., Milak, Matthew S., Campbell, Carl, Mann, J.John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-11-2004; Elsevier
• Subjects: 18FDG; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - drug effects; Brain - metabolism; d-fenfluramine; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major - metabolism; Fenfluramine - administration & dosage; Fenfluramine - pharmacology; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Glucose - metabolism; Humans; Major depressive disorder; Male; Medical sciences; Mood disorders; Parietal Lobe - drug effects; Parietal Lobe - metabolism; Positron emission tomography; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; Prefrontal Cortex - metabolism; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Radiopharmaceuticals; Regional glucose metabolic rate response; Serotonin; Serotonin - metabolism; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology; Regional glucose metabolic rate response; d-fenfluramine; Serotonin; Positron emission tomography; Major depressive disorder; 18FDG; Amphetamine derivatives; Mood disorder; Human; Agonist; Central nervous system; Depression; Fenfluramine; Male; Serotonine receptor; Serotonin agonist; Prefrontal cortex; Glucose; Experimental study; Metabolism; Encephalon; Parietal cortex; D-fenfluramine; Diagnosis; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0165-0327
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2004.04.003

Background: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies have reported altered resting regional brain glucose metabolism in mood disorders. This study examines the relationship of such changes to serotonin system abnormalities associated with depression.
Methods: Thirteen male medication free subjects who were inpatients with a DSM-IIIR major depressive disorder and seven healthy male subjects underwent an [
18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (
18FDG) PET scan on consecutive days. Three hours prior to
18FDG subjects received single blind placebo or fenfluramine. Comparisons of voxel level regional glucose metabolic rate responses (rCMRglu) between groups in the two states were performed with SPM99.
Results: Unlike healthy male subjects who have significant increases in rCMRglu in prefrontal and parietal cortical regions after receiving fenfluramine, depressed male subjects have no significant increases in rCMRglu.
Conclusions: Blunted increases in rCMRglu in response to fenfluramine in prefrontal and parietal cortex are consistent with our previous pilot study and the indoleamine hypothesis of depression. Differences in specific brain regions affected between this study and previous studies may be attributable to gender differences.