- Authors:
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s00213-009-1587-3
- Abstract:
- RATIONALE: Lack of benefit from antidepressant drug therapy is a major source of human suffering, affecting at least 25% of people with major depressive disorder. We want to know whether nonresponse to antidepressants can be linked to aberrant neuroreceptor binding. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the antidepressant binding in brain regions of depressed nonresponders compared with healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healthy volunteers and depressed subjects who had failed to benefit from at least 2 antidepressant treatments were recruited by newspaper advertisements. All subjects had received no antidepressant medication for at least 2 months before positron emission tomography (PET) that was carried out with [(11)C]mirtazapine. Kinetic parameters of [(11)C]mirtazapine were determined from PET data in selected brain regions by the simplified reference tissue model. RESULTS: Binding potentials of [(11)C]mirtazapine in cerebral cortical regions were lower in depressed nonresponders than in healthy controls. Removal rates of [(11)C]mirtazapine were higher in diencephalic regions of depressed nonresponders than in healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: PET neuroimaging with [(11)C]mirtazapine showed aberrant neuroreceptor binding in brain regions of depressed subjects who had failed to benefit from treatment with antidepressant drugs.
- Type:
- Journal article
- Language:
- English
- Published in:
- Psychopharmacology, 2009, Vol 206, p. 133-140
- Main Research Area:
- Medical science
- Publication Status:
- Published
- Review type:
- Peer Review
- Submission year:
- 2009
- Scientific Level:
- Scientific
- ID:
- 1151315
0000-0002-0081-0068
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