title: Social support and striatal dopaminergic activities: is there a connection?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although patients' social support is a critical factor for the prognosis of mental disorder treatments, biological mechanisms responsible for the impact of social support remain scarcely explored. We speculated that there may be an association between social support and central dopaminergic activities in humans.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 65 medicated patients with schizophrenia and their primary first-degree caregivers and 54 healthy volunteers were recruited for Studies 1 and 2, respectively. In Study 1, the extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) of medicated patients with schizophrenia and the social support scores of their caregivers were examined. In Study 2, the availability of striatal D(2)/D(3) receptors, dopamine transporters (DAT) and social support scores were measured in 54 healthy volunteers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Study 1: the EPS scores of medicated patients with schizophrenia were negatively correlated with the social support scores of their relatives. Study 2: a positive correlation between the subjective social support scores and striatal DAT availability was noted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The central dopaminergic activity may be linked to the sense of social support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan 70403, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzung Lieh
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: I Hui
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Po See
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lung
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Shu Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Wei Jen
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yen Kuang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ru Band
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Nan Tsing
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Chiu
mesh_terms: D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012944:Social Support; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods; D014326:Tropanes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D014326:Tropanes; C104196:technetium Tc 99m TRODAT-1; D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine; D002746:Chlorpromazine; D004298:Dopamine