title: The impact of HF-rTMS treatment on serotonin(2A) receptors in unipolar melancholic depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Currently, the underlying neurobiological mechanism as to how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can alter depressive states remains unclear. Animal data suggest that its influence could occur at the neurotransmitter level, such as modulation of the serotonin system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one antidepressant-free medication-resistant unipolar depressed patients, and 21 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects were studied. We examined the neurobiologic impact of 10 high-frequent (HF)-rTMS sessions applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on postsynaptic 5-HT(2A) receptor binding indices (BI) measured with ¹²³I-5-I-R91150 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) only in patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the control group, patients displayed significantly less bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortical and significantly higher left hippocampal baseline 5-HT(2A) receptor BI. Successful HF-rTMS treatment correlated positively with 5-HT(2A) receptor BI in the DLPFC bilaterally and correlated negatively with right hippocampal 5-HT(2A) receptor uptake values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that HF-rTMS treatment affect the serotonergic system. Our data also suggest that this kind of treatment affects 5-HT(2A) receptor BI in the DLPFC and in the hippocampus in different ways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium. chris.baeken@uzbrussel.be
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baeken
authors.forename: Rudi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Raedt
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bossuyt
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Hove
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dobbeleir
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blanckaert
authors.forename: Ingeborg
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goethals
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000378:metabolism*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A