Noradrenergic receptor sensitivity in obsessive-compulsive disorders: I. growth hormone response to clonidine stimulation

In 15 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and in 15 healthy controls postsynaptic α-2-adrenoceptor sensitivity was examined by measuring the growth hormone (GH) response to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and to clonidine stimulation. Basal values of GH and somatomedin-C (SMD-C...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 1997-03, Vol.69 (2), p.155-162
Main Authors: Brambilla, Francesca, Perna, Giampaolo, Bellodi, Laura, Arancio, Cinzia, Bertani, Angelo, Perini, Giulia, Carraro, Christian, Gava, Franco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adrenergic alpha-Agonists - pharmacology
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Biological and medical sciences
Clonidine
Clonidine - pharmacology
Female
Growth hormone
Growth hormone-releasing hormone
Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone - pharmacology
Human Growth Hormone - blood
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - physiopathology
Obsessive-compulsive disorders
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2 - drug effects
Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2 - physiology
α-2-Adrenoceptors
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Summary:In 15 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and in 15 healthy controls postsynaptic α-2-adrenoceptor sensitivity was examined by measuring the growth hormone (GH) response to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and to clonidine stimulation. Basal values of GH and somatomedin-C (SMD-C) and mean GH responses to GHRH were the same in patients and controls, thus suggesting that a peripheral pathology of the somatotropic axis should not be present. GH responses to clonidine stimulation were blunted in patients suggesting that post-synaptic α-2-adrenoceptors are subsensitive, possibly due to higher than normal noradrenergic secretion.
ISSN:0165-1781
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/S0165-1781(96)03032-6