Brain 5-HT function in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Prolactin responses to d-fenfluramine.

Journal article

BACKGROUND: Drugs that potentiate brain serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission are effective in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but it is unclear whether disturbances in brain 5-HT function play a role in the pathophysiology of OCD. METHOD: We studied the prolactin response to the selective 5-HT releasing agent d-fenfluramine in 14 non-depressed, drug-free OCD patients, and 14 healthy controls matched for age and gender. RESULTS: The prolactin response to d-fenfluramine was significantly increased in OCD patients compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: The disparate results of studies of 5-HT neuroendocrine function in OCD make it unlikely that disturbances of brain 5-HT function play a central role in the pathophysiology of OCD. Increased brain 5-HT neurotransmission in non-depressed OCD subjects may represent an adaptive neurobehavioural mechanism which can be amplified to therapeutic advantage by treatment with 5-HT potentiating drugs.

Authors: Fineberg, N; Roberts, A; Montgomery, SA; Cowen, P

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
• Volume: 171
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 280-282
• Publication date: 1997-09-01
• DOI: 10.1192/bjp.171.3.280
• EISSN: 1472-1465
• ISSN: 0007-1250
• Language: English
• Keywords: Adult; Serotonin; Serotonin Agents; Male; Brain; Humans; Female; Fenfluramine; Middle Aged; Prolactin; Case-Control Studies; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Synaptic Transmission