PET Measurement of the Influence of Corticosteroids on Serotonin-1A Receptor Number

Overview

Journal Biol Psychiatry

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2001 Nov 13

PMID 11704073

Citations 8

Authors

A J Montgomery

C J Bench

A H Young

A Hammers

R N Gunn

Z Bhagwagar

P M Grasby

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and serotonergic system interact functionally. The modulatory effect of corticosteroids on 5-HT(1A) receptor number and function has been repeatedly demonstrated in preclinical studies suggesting that raised corticosteroid levels decrease 5-HT(1A) receptor number and function in the hippocampus.

Methods: We used positron emission tomography (PET) to quantify the number of 5-HT(1A) receptors in two studies, the first in normal subjects given a single dose of hydrocortisone using a random-order, double-blind, placebo-controlled design and second in patients treated long-term with corticosteroids.

Results: We did not find that exposure to elevated levels of corticosteroids in either the short or long term alters 5-HT(1A) receptor binding in the hippocampus or other brain regions examined.

Conclusions: This study does not support the hypothesis that corticosteroids exert a major inhibitory regulatory control over the 5-HT(1A) receptor binding in the human brain.

Citing Articles

The historical progression of positron emission tomography research in neuroendocrinology.

Bini J Front Neuroendocrinol. 2023; 70:101081.

PMID: 37423505 PMC: 10530506. DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2023.101081.

Cortisol Stress Response and in Vivo PET Imaging of Human Brain Serotonin 1A Receptor Binding.

Steinberg L, Rubin-Falcone H, Galfalvy H, Kaufman J, Miller J, Sublette M Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2019; 22(5):329-338.

PMID: 30927011 PMC: 6499240. DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyz009.

Reduced post-synaptic serotonin type 1A receptor binding in bipolar depression.

Nugent A, Bain E, Carlson P, Neumeister A, Bonne O, Carson R Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013; 23(8):822-9.

PMID: 23434290 PMC: 3748207. DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2012.11.005.

Early parental deprivation in the marmoset monkey produces long-term changes in hippocampal expression of genes involved in synaptic plasticity and implicated in mood disorder.

Law A, Pei Q, Walker M, Gordon-Andrews H, Weickert C, Feldon J Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008; 34(6):1381-94.

PMID: 18615010 PMC: 2669475. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2008.106.

Nitric oxide as inflammatory mediator in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): evidence from an animal model.

Oosthuizen F, Wegener G, Harvey B Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2008; 1(2):109-23.

PMID: 18568056 PMC: 2413191. DOI: 10.2147/nedt.1.2.109.61049.