Reduced midbrain-pons serotonin transporter binding in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Published in: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2007-05, Vol.115 (5), p.388-394
• Main Authors: Hasselbalch, S. G., Hansen, E. S., Jakobsen, T. B., Pinborg, L. H., Lønborg, J. H., Bolwig, T. G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anatomy & physiology; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain research; Cocaine - analogs & derivatives; Cocaine - pharmacokinetics; Female; Frontal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Frontal Lobe - physiopathology; Humans; Iodine Radioisotopes - pharmacokinetics; Male; Medical sciences; Mesencephalon - diagnostic imaging; Mesencephalon - physiopathology; Middle Aged; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Nerve Net - physiopathology; Neuroses; obsessive-compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - diagnostic imaging; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - physiopathology; Obsessive-compulsive disorders; Pathology; Pons - diagnostic imaging; Pons - physiopathology; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reference Values; serotonin; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism; single photon emission computerized tomography; Statistics as Topic; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447; 0065-1591
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2006.00940.x

Objective:  To evaluate current hypothesis regarding the pathophysiology of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) by studying the serotonin receptor binding in patients with OCD using single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT). Method:  We studied nine patients (four men and five women, age range 21–56 years) fulfilling the DMS‐III‐R criteria for OCD using SPECT and the serotonin transporter (SERT) tracer 123I‐β‐CIT. SERT binding potential (BP2) was determined by Logan plot derived from seven scans obtained during 10–400 min. Results:  The binding of 123I‐β‐CIT in midbrain‐pons was reduced in OCD patients when compared with controls (BP2 0.97 ± 0.07 vs. 0.84 ± 0.12, P = 0.011). There was no correlation between BP2 and any of the clinical variables (age at onset, disease duration, and Yale‐Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale score). Conclusion:  This study suggests a reduced serotonergic input into the fronto‐subcortical circuits in OCD, thereby diminishing the inhibitory regulation of serotonin on these circuits.