CSF somatostatin in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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.
Altemus
M
M
Laboratory of Clinical Science, NIMH, Bethesda, MD.
Pigott
T
T
L'Heureux
F
F
Davis
C L
CL
Rubinow
D R
DR
Murphy
D L
DL
Gold
P W
PW
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*
D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D013004:Somatostatin