Comparative Behavioral and Neural Effects of Tryptophan and Catecholamine Depletion in Remitted Depression

Hasler, Gregor; Homan, Philipp; Neumeister, Alexander; Nugent, Allison; Charney, Dennis; Drevets, Wayne (2014). Comparative Behavioral and Neural Effects of Tryptophan and Catecholamine Depletion in Remitted Depression. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39, S449-S449. Nature Publishing Group

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Background: Despite immense efforts into development of new antidepressant drugs, the increases of serotoninergic and catechominergic neurotransmission have remained the two major pharmacodynamic principles of current drug treatments for depression. Consequently, psychopathological or biological markers that predict response to drugs that selectively increase serotonin and/or catecholamine neurotransmission hold the potential to optimize the prescriber’s selection among currently available treatment options. The aim of this study was to elucidate the differential symptomatology and neurophysiology in response to reductions in serotonergic versus catecholaminergic neurotransmission in subjects at high risk of depression recurrence.

Methods: Using identical neuroimaging procedures with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography after tryptophan depletion (TD) and catecholamine depletion (CD), subjects with remitted depression were compared to healthy controls in a double-blind, randomized, crossover design.

Results: While TD induced significantly more depressed mood, sadness and hopelessness than CD, CD induced more inactivity, concentration difficulties, lassitude and somatic anxiety than TD. CD specifically increased glucose metabolism in the bilateral ventral striatum and decreased glucose metabolism in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, whereas TD specifically increased metabolism in the right prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). While we found direct associations between changes in brain metabolism and induced depressive symptoms following CD, the relationship between neural activity and symptoms was less clear after TD.

Conclusions: In conclusion, this study showed that serotonin and catecholamines play common and differential roles in the pathophysiology of depression.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Further Contribution)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy > Healthcare Research 04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy > Management
UniBE Contributor:	Hasler, Gregor, Homan, Philipp
Subjects:	600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
ISSN:	0893-133X
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group
Language:	English
Submitter:	Philipp Homan
Date Deposited:	18 Dec 2014 15:14
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:38
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/60970