Platelet [3H]paroxetine binding in patients with OCD-related disorders.
The recently introduced notion of clinical conditions being related one to another, the spectrum concept, permits the testing of the involvement of serotonergic systems in a broad range of disorders tentatively linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for which no pathophysiological hypotheses yet exist. We therefore compared the binding of [3H]paroxetine ([3H]Par), a ligand that specifically labels the serotonin (5-HT) transporter, in platelets of drug-free outpatients suffering from various OCD-related disorders with binding in platelets of OCD patients and healthy subjects. Diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV criteria. The most frequent diagnosis was that of body dysmorphic disorder, followed by impulse control disorder, kleptomania, Tourette's syndrome and trichotillomania. Platelet membranes and [3H]Par binding were studied according to standardized protocols. The results, showing a similarly decreased density of [3H]Par binding sites in both patient groups as compared with healthy subjects, suggest the presence of a shared abnormality at the level of the presynaptic 5-HT transporter, probably linked to a common dimension yet to be identified.
Marazziti
D
D
Dipartimento di Psichiatria, Neurobiologia, Farmacologia e Biotecnologie, University of Pisa, Italy. dmarazzi@psico.med.unipi.it
Dell'Osso
L
L
Presta
S
S
Pfanner
C
C
Rossi
A
A
Masala
I
I
Baroni
S
S
Giannaccini
G
G
Lucacchini
A
A
Cassano
G B
GB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000502:physiology*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D011955:Receptors, Drug / Q000502:physiology; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011955:Receptors, Drug; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C092604:paroxetine receptor; D017374:Paroxetine