title: Serotonergic responses in depressed patients with or without a history of alcohol use disorders and healthy controls.
abstract: Dysfunction of serotonergic neurotransmission has been implicated in the etiopathogenesis of major depression (MDD) and alcohol use disorders (AUD). To compare serotonin function in MDD with co-occurring AUD (MDD/AUD), MDD without co-occurring AUD (MDD only) and healthy controls (HC) we sought to study differences in prolactin responses to fenfluramine administration in patients with MDD/AUD, patients with MDD only and HC. In all, 169 subjects (62 MDD/AUD, 75 MDD only, and 32 HC) were entered into the study. Controlling for gender, prolactin responses were lower in the MDD/AUD group compared to the MDD only or the HC group. Controlling for gender and aggression, prolactin responses in the MDD/AUD group remained significantly lower compared to the HC group but the difference between the MDD/AUD and the MDD only groups disappeared. The difference in prolactin responses between MDD/AUD and MDD only could be attributed to higher aggression scores in the MDD/AUD group compared to the MDD group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. LS2003@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sher
authors.forename: Barbara H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: J John
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oquendo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D004637:Emergency Services, Psychiatric; D005260:Female; D005277:Fenfluramine / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009642:Norfenfluramine / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009642:Norfenfluramine; D005277:Fenfluramine; D012701:Serotonin; D011388:Prolactin