Brain imaging, antidepressants, and ethnicity: preliminary observations.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using 99mTc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (HMPAO) evaluations were completed on African-American and Caucasian depressed patients prior to their participation in an antidepressant medication trial. The degree of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR), and uptake of HMPAO did not vary significantly between the groups. After 1 week of placebo run-in, patients received paroxetine in an 8-week, open-label, flexible-dose trial. Final dosages and side effects were similar between groups. There was a trend for the Caucasian patients to have a better treatment response, but the relatively small sample size makes this finding tentative. In general, there were no major differences in either baseline neuroimaging findings or response to paroxetine between these two ethnic groups.
Lesser
I M
IM
Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance 90509, USA.
Smith
M W
MW
Wohl
M
M
Mena
R N
RN
Mehringer
C M
CM
Lin
K M
KM
D001741:Black or African American; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D000928:Antidepressive Agents