title: Association between serotonin transporter availability and overall rating scores of quality of life in healthy volunteers.
abstract: Depression and impaired quality of life (QOL) are frequently observed in patients suffering from a variety of diseases. In addition, it has been reported that an enhanced degradation of the serotonin precursor tryptophan may contribute to QOL deterioration in some diseases. However, it is unclear whether the correlation between the QOL scores and the central serotonergic tone is only mediated by the severity of either the depression symptoms or the physical illness itself. The present study examined the relationship between serotonin transporter (SERT) availability and life quality as measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life brief version questionnaire (WHO-QOL) in healthy participants in order to exclude the influence of depressive mood and disease. The SERT availability in the midbrain was approximated using SPECT with [(123)I] ADAM ligand in fifty-eight healthy volunteers. The overall rating sub scores of the WHO-QOL correlated positively with serotonin transporter availability in the males. Central serotoninergic activity may play a role in the overall rating scores of the WHO-QOL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital and College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin Chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Tzung Lieh
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Ming Hong
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: I Hui
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kao Ching
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Po See
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yen Kuang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wei Jen
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Yao