Article

Platelet serotonin transporter function after short-term paroxetine treatment in patients with panic disorder.

Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
Psychiatry Research (impact factor: 2.52). 03/2010; 176(2-3):250-3. DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.12.007 pp.250-3
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Dysfunctions in serotonin neurotransmission have been implicated in some psychiatric disorders, and in particular, altered serotonin transporter function has been noted in panic disorder. In this study, the authors compared platelet [(3)H]serotonin uptake parameters, including maximum velocities (V(max)) and affinity constants (K(m)), in patients with panic disorder not undergoing treatment (n=21) and in healthy subjects (n=20). V(max) and K(m) values were re-examined after 12 weeks of paroxetine treatment. Values of V(max) and K(m) were lower in panic disorder patients at baseline than in healthy subjects. After treatment, K(m) normalized in panic patients, whereas V(max) did not change. A significant inverse correlation was found between increased K(m) and changes in anxiety levels. These results support a hypothesis of serotonergic transporter abnormalities in panic disorder, and suggest that increased K(m) values of platelet serotonin transporters parallel clinical improvement after short-term pharmacotherapy in panic disorder.

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    Article: Platelet serotonin transporter function and heart rate variability in patients with panic disorder.
    Eun-Ho Kang, In-Soo Lee, Joo-Eon Park, Kyung-Jeong Kim, Bum-Hee Yu
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    ABSTRACT: Many studies showed abnormal serotonin transporter (5-HTT) function and heart rate variability (HRV) in panic disorder patients. The present study investigated the relationship between HRV power spectral analysis findings and platelet serotonin uptake in panic disorder patients. Short-term HRV over 5 min and platelet serotonin transporter uptake parameters (V(max) and K(m)) were measured both in 45 patients with panic disorder and in 30 age-matched normal healthy control subjects. Low frequency power (LF) normalized unit (nu) and LF/high frequency power (HF) were significantly higher, whereas HF and HF nu were lower in the patient group than in the control group. V(max) and K(m) were all significantly lower (i.e., reflects decreased 5-HTT function) in patients with panic disorder than in normal controls. In the patient group, K(m) was negatively correlated with LF/HF and LF nu whereas no such correlations between them were found in the control group. By multivariate analysis based on multiple hierarchical linear regression, a low K(m) independently predicted an increased LF nu even after controlling for age, sex, and body mass index in the patient group. These results suggest that impaired 5-HTT function is closely related to dysregulation of autonomic nervous system in panic disorder.
    Journal of Korean medical science 04/2010; 25(4):613-8. · 0.84 Impact Factor
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Keywords

anxiety levels
 
maximum velocities
 
panic disorder
 
panic disorder patients
 
panic patients
 
platelet [(3)H]serotonin uptake parameters
 
platelet serotonin transporters parallel clinical improvement
 
psychiatric disorders
 
results support
 
serotonergic transporter abnormalities
 
short-term pharmacotherapy
 
significant inverse correlation
 

Eun-Ho Kang