Posted by Netch on February 15, 2008, at 9:17:22
A new study might explain why women are more likely to get depression/anxiety
"Women and men differ in 5-HT associated psychiatric conditions, such as depression, anxiety
and suicide. Despite this, very few studies focus on sex differences in the 5-HT system. Of the
biomarkers in the 5-HT system, 5-HT1A receptor is implicated in depression and anxiety, and
5-HTT (serotonin transporter) is a target for SSRIs, psychotropic drugs used in the treatment of these disorders. The
aim of the present study was to study sex related differences in the 5-HT1A receptor and 5-
HTT binding potential (BP) in healthy humans, in vivo. PET and selective radioligands [11C]WAY100635 and
[11C]MADAM were used to evaluate BPs for 5-HT1A receptors (14 women and 14 men) and
5-HTT (8 women and 10 men). The BPs were estimated both on the level of anatomical
regions and voxel wise, derived by the SRTM and wavelet/Logan plot parametric image
techniques respectively.The VOI-based analysis revealed higher mean 5-HT1A BP values in women compared to men
(Figure 6). A statistically significant mean difference of 1.37 in 5-HT1A BP between women
and men were found (p=0.0063) and there was no sex by region effect (p=0.25). Compared to
men, women had in general, 39% higher 5-HT1A BP. For the 5-HTT, a statistically significant
lower mean 5-HTT BP was measured in women compared to men (p=0.0035) with a difference
of 0.40. There was no significant sex by region interaction (p=0.47). A 55% higher 5-HTT BP
was observed in men compared to women (Figure 6)."http://diss.kib.ki.se/2008/978-91-7357-510-2/
Netch
poster:Netch
thread:812858
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/neuro/20080204/msgs/812858.html