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The effects of antidepressants on the cerebrospinal fluid homovanillic acid/5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid ratio
Author(s) -
Risby Emile D,
Hsiao John K,
Sunderland Trey,
Âgren Hans,
Rudorfer Matthew V,
Potter William Z
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1038/clpt.1987.195
Subject(s) - homovanillic acid , 5 hydroxyindoleacetic acid , cerebrospinal fluid , medicine , chemistry , pharmacology , serotonin , receptor
Dopamine and serotonin systems are morphologically interconnected in the midbrain. Several studies have also demonstrated a functional relationship between these two monoamine systems. Concentrations of their metabolites, 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA), consistently correlate with one another in human cerebrospinal fluid. Previous studies of the effects of antidepressants on the dopamine and serotonin systems have focused on the two systems in isolation without considering the interactions between the two. One way of taking this interaction into account may be to form a ratio of dopamine and serotonin measures. The present study measured HVA and 5HIAA in cerebrospinal fluid of 31 patients with depression and 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease before and after treatment with a variety of antidepressant drugs. The ratio of HVA/5HIAA was able to discriminate much more powerfully between effects of different drugs than HVA or 5HIAA examined separately. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1987) 42, 547–554; doi: 10.1038/clpt.1987.195