title: Plasma catecholamine levels before and after paroxetine treatment in patients with panic disorder.
abstract: Catecholamines such as norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine are closely related to the autonomic nervous system, suggesting that panic disorder may involve elevated catecholamine levels. This study investigated basal and posttreatment catecholamine levels in patients with panic disorder. A total of 29 patients with panic disorder and 23 healthy controls participated in the study. Panic disorder patients received paroxetine treatment for 12 weeks after clinical tests and examination had been conducted. We investigated the difference in basal levels of catecholamine and measured the changes in catecholamine levels before and after drug treatment in panic disorder patients. The basal plasma epinephrine (48.87±6.18 pg/ml) and dopamine (34.87±3.57 pg/ml) levels of panic disorder patients were significantly higher than those (34.79±4.72 pg/ml and 20.40±3.53 pg/ml) of the control group. However, basal plasma norepinephrine levels did not show statistically significant differences between patients and controls. After drug therapy, plasma catecholamine levels were nonsignificantly decreased and norepinephrine levels showed a tendency toward a decrease that did not reach significance. In conclusion, this study suggests the possibility of a baseline increase of plasma catecholamine levels and activation of sympathetic nervous systems in patients with panic disorder which may normalize after treatment with paroxetine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Bum-Hee
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Yoon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ikki
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyemin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea; Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology (SAIHST), Seoul, Korea; Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: jeonhj@skku.edu.
authors.forename: Hong Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000097:blood*; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood*; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012016:Reference Values; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017374:Paroxetine; D004298:Dopamine; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine
keywords: Catecholamine; Panic disorder; Paroxetine