Striatal dopamine transporter availability is associated with the productive psychotic state in first episode, drug-naive schizophrenic patients.
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.
Schmitt
G J E
GJ
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80336, München, Germany.
Frodl
T
T
Dresel
S
S
la Fougère
C
C
Bottlender
R
R
Koutsouleris
N
N
Hahn
K
K
Möller
H-J
HJ
Meisenzahl
E M
EM
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
D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D014326:Tropanes; C104196:technetium Tc 99m TRODAT-1; D004298:Dopamine