title: Striatal dopamine transporter availability is associated with the productive psychotic state in first episode, drug-naive schizophrenic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Supposing a "hyperdopaminergic State" associated at least with acute psychotic illness phases in schizophrenia, a direct relationship between striatal dopamine metabolism and the core psychopathological symptoms rarely can be provided. Recently, a new SPECT ligand to the presynaptic dopamine transporter (DAT) was introduced. Association of DAT availability and the acute psychotic syndrome is now demonstrated in a large cohort of first episode, never treated schizophrenic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight inpatients suffering from a first acute exacerbation of schizophrenia and 12 healthy control subjects underwent SPECT scanning with the new radioligand [(99m)Tc]TRODAT-1. On the day of SPECT, psychopathology was assessed using specific scales including PANSS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference in [(99m)Tc]TRODAT-1 specific binding to the striatal DAT comparing both groups. The extend of hallucinations was significantly inversely correlated with DAT availability in patients with a predominantly positive syndrome type.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data support evidence that differences in presynaptic dopaminergic activity in schizophrenic patients are associated with the extend of the acute psychotic syndrome. [(99m)Tc]TRODAT-1 seems to be a useful agent for in vivo assessment of a psychopathological association with dopamine metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80336, München, Germany.
authors.forename: G J E
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frodl
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dresel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: la Fougère
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bottlender
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koutsouleris
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Meisenzahl
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014326:Tropanes
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D014326:Tropanes; C104196:technetium Tc 99m TRODAT-1; D004298:Dopamine