Dopamine transporter binding in depressed patients with anhedonia.
Central dopaminergic dysfunction has been widely proposed as a common neurobiological correlate of the psychopathological expression of anhedonia. The dopamine transporter (DAT) is a predominantly presynaptic receptor that may play a critical role in the pathophysiology of dopaminergic transmission. The aim of our study was to evaluate DAT binding in a population of depressed patients with anhedonia. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with the radiotracer DATSCAN was used to evaluate DAT binding in 11 depressed patients with anhedonia and 9 healthy comparison subjects. Compared with healthy subjects, patients showed significantly lower DAT binding. No significant correlation was found between DAT binding ratios and scores on administered psychometric tests. These findings suggest an alteration in DAT density in depressed patients with anhedonia that may be a primary susceptibility factor or a secondary phenomenon to reduced dopamine concentration in the synaptic cleft.
Sarchiapone
Marco
M
Institute of Psychiatry, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
Carli
Vladimir
V
Camardese
Giovanni
G
Cuomo
Chiara
C
Di Giuda
Daniela
D
Calcagni
Maria-Lucia
ML
Focacci
C
C
De Risio
Sergio
S
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001665:Binding Sites; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017661:Receptors, Presynaptic / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D017661:Receptors, Presynaptic