title: CSF somatostatin in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Because the central administration of somatostatin to experimental animals produces behaviors with some similarities to the compulsions of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and because serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been reported to reduce brain content of somatostatin, the authors examined central somatostatin activity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  CSF for measurement of somatostatin was obtained from 15 drug-free outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 27 normal volunteers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean CSF somatostatin level was significantly higher in the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder than in the normal subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the functional significance of this finding is unknown, these data are consistent with a role for somatostatin in the clinical symptomatology of obsessive-compulsive disorder and its response to neuropharmacological agents. The high levels of CSF somatostatin reported here in a patient subgroup whose predominant symptoms consisted of overly focused, perseverative thought processes are in contrast to the consistently low levels of CSF somatostatin seen in patients with a spectrum of disorders characterized by substantial cognitive deficits.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Science, NIMH, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altemus
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pigott
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: L'Heureux
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Rubinow
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Gold
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D013004:Somatostatin