Acute intravenous administration of ondansetron and m-CPP, alone and in combination, in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): behavioral and biological results

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been linked to abnormal function of brain serotonin (5-HT) pathways. Since ondansetron is a highly selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, the present study was undertaken to investigate 5-HT3 function in OCD. We administered m-CPP (0.08 mg/kg i.v.) and the potent 5-HT3 antagonist, ondansetron (0.15 mg/kg i.v.), to 11 OCD patients. All of the subjects received four separate challenges (m-CPP + placebo, m-CPP + ondansetron, ondansetron + placebo and placebo + placebo). In comparison to placebo, administration of m-CPP was associated with significant behavioral effects, particularly self-rated measures of anxiety, altered self-reality, functional deficit and OCD symptoms. Pretreatment with ondansetron did not affect any of the self-rated behavioral symptoms. After administration of m-CPP relative to placebo, significant increases in plasma cortisol and prolactin were found. These changes were not affected by ondansetron. In conclusion, our results do not support the hypotheses that 5-HT3 receptor-mediated mechanisms modulate m-CPP's behavioral and neuroendocrine effects in patients with OCD.