title: Longitudinal changes in the dopamine transporter and cognition in suicide attempters with charcoal burning.
abstract: Suicide with charcoal burning, which results in carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, is common in Asia. This study was designed to elucidate associations between changes in the dopamine transporter (DAT) and cognitive function in patients following CO poisoning during a follow-up period of 6 months. Participants comprised 31 healthy controls (HCs) and 21 CO poisoning patients. Each subject underwent single photon emission computed tomography with [(99m)Tc] TRODAT-1 to measure DAT availability and completed a cognitive battery assessing attention, memory, and executive function. For CO poisoning patients, a second DAT measurement and repeated cognitive evaluations were performed 6 months later. At baseline, DAT availability over bilateral striatum in CO poisoning subjects was significantly lower than in HCs. After 6 months, there was no significant change of DAT availability in CO poisoning patients. CO poisoning patients also had worse cognitive performance in all domains compared with HCs at baseline. After 6 months, most cognitive functions were significantly improved, except for the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), a measure of executive function. Interestingly, changes in the WCST were significantly correlated with changes in DAT availability during the 6-month follow-up period. The persistence of reduced DAT availability and its association with impaired performance on the WCST indicate a crucial role of DAT in the recovery of executive function following CO poisoning.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Section, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kai-Chun
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shyh-Jen
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Chi
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiing-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lirng
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chen-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jou-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Lung
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital & National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: c520608@ms64.hinet.net.
authors.forename: Yuan-Hwa
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002606:Charcoal; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D002606:Charcoal
keywords: Carbon monoxide poisoning; Executive function; Wisconsin card sorting test; [(99m)Tc] TRODAT-1