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. 2007 Sep;17(9):608-15.
doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2007.03.007. Epub 2007 May 2.

Positron emission tomography study of regional brain metabolic responses to a serotonergic challenge in major depressive disorder with and without comorbid lifetime alcohol dependence

Leo Sher  1 , Matthew S Milak, Ramin V Parsey, Juan J Carballo, Thomas B Cooper, Kevin M Malone, Maria A Oquendo, J John Mann
Affiliations

Positron emission tomography study of regional brain metabolic responses to a serotonergic challenge in major depressive disorder with and without comorbid lifetime alcohol dependence

Leo Sher et al. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007 Sep.

Abstract

This is the first study contrasting regional glucose metabolic rate (rCMRglu) responses to a serotonergic challenge in major depressive disorder (MDD) with and without comorbid alcohol dependence. In a university hospital, patients with MDD without a history of alcohol dependence (MDD only) and patients with MDD and comorbid alcohol dependence (MDD/ALC) were enrolled in this study. Subjects with comorbid borderline personality disorder were excluded. A bolus injection of approximately 5 mCi of (18)fluorodeoxyglucose was administered 3 h after the administration of placebo or fenfluramine. We found an anterior medial prefrontal cortical area where MDD/ALC subjects had more severe hypofrontality than MDD only patients. This area encompassed the left medial frontal and left and right anterior cingulate gyri. This group difference disappeared after fenfluramine administration. The fact that the observed group difference disappeared after the fenfluramine challenge suggests that serotonergic mechanisms play a role in the observed differences between the groups.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Areas of greater relative regional cerebral metabolis, rate for glucose (rCMRglu) in depressed subjects without comorbid alcohol dependence compared to depressed subjects with comorbid alcohol dependence. [Table: see text]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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