title: The effects of antidepressants on the cerebrospinal fluid homovanillic acid/5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid ratio.
abstract: Dopamine and serotonin systems are morphologically interconnected in the midbrain. Several studies have also demonstrated a functional relationship between these two monoamine systems. Concentrations of their metabolites, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA), consistently correlate with one another in human cerebrospinal fluid. Previous studies of the effects of antidepressants on the dopamine and serotonin systems have focused on the two systems in isolation without considering the interactions between the two. One way of taking this interaction into account may be to form a ratio of dopamine and serotonin measures. The present study measured HVA and 5HIAA in cerebrospinal fluid of 31 patients with depression and 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease before and after treatment with a variety of antidepressant drugs. The ratio of HVA/5HIAA was able to discriminate much more powerfully between effects of different drugs than HVA or 5HIAA examined separately.
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000188:drug therapy; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000187:drug effects*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000188:drug therapy; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004347:Drug Interactions; D006719:Homovanillic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; D006719:Homovanillic Acid