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Brain 5-HT function in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Prolactin responses to d-fenfluramine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

N. A. Fineberg ,
A. Roberts ,
S. A. Montgomery  and
P. J. Cowen
N. A. Fineberg*
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London
A. Roberts
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London
S. A. Montgomery
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London
P. J. Cowen
Affiliation:
Littlemore Hospital, Oxford
*
Dr P. J. Cowen, Research Unit, Littlemore Hospital, Oxford OX4 4XN
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Abstract

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.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 171 , Issue 3 , September 1997 , pp. 280 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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