Cortisol plasma levels are associated with serotonin - 1A receptor binding in postmenopausal women

Introduction

Alterations of the serotonin-1A receptor (5-HT1A) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have been reported in depression and anxiety disorders. We previously showed a strong negative correlation between cortisol plasma levels and 5-HT1A receptor binding potential (BP) in patients with social anxiety disorder but not in healthy controls using PET [1].

Objectives

To investigate the relationship of cortisol and the 5-HT1A BP in postmenopausal women, a population that is at increased risk of suffering from depressive symptoms.

Methods

Subjects: 19 postmenopausal women, aged 55.26 ± 4.98, medication free, no current substance abuse or hormone replacement therapy.

PET

Dynamic measurements (50 frames, 90 min) were performed using the radioligand [carbonyl-11C]WAY100635 and a GE-Advance scanner. PET data were normalized to a ligand-specific template [2]. Regions-of-interest (ROI) were defined as given in [3]. TACs within ROIs were averaged and the 5-HT1A receptor BP was quantified using Logan-plot and PMOD 3.1. Measurement of total cortisol plasma levels was done using electrochemoluminescence.

Results

We found negative correlations between cortisol and 5-HT1A BP in the midbrain (Spearman's rs = −0.54, p = 0.02), the median raphe nucleus (rs = −0.47, p = 0.04) and the nucleus accumbens (rs = −0.505, p = 0.03).

Conclusions

In line with our previous findings [1], the observed negative association between cortisol plasma levels and 5-HT1A BP might reflect an increased vulnerability for mood disorders in postmenopausal women.

Treatment Resistance in Depression

Due to the advancement of antidepressant medication, more patients receive treatment in everyday practice, and response/remission is not achieved in the majority of the patients. Several attempts to validate the definition of treatment resistance have been undertaken and the criteria usually encompased to treatment sequences are that two different classes of antidepressants given in a sufficient dosage for a sufficient time have to be administered. Clinically, it is evident that this defintion does not include the treatment refractory patients which could be defined as not responding to numerus trials including electroconvulsive therapy. The goal to improve treatment through the use of predicitve biomarkers has not as yet been obtained and will be the challenge for the future. The clinical variables predicting treatment resistance include comorbid anxiety disorders as well as melancholic features. Although there is a plethora of hints in textbooks that switching the mechanism of action should be obtained when a patient does not respond to one medication, the few controlled trials which have been undertaken to challenge this notion revealed that staying on the same antidepressant mechanism of action for a longer time is more beneficial. In previous times, the conjunctive use of agents such as lithium or thyroid augmentation have been proposed, however the new data achieved with atypical antipsychotics demonstrate a more rapid improvement. Techniques such as brain stimulation or vagus nerve stimulation have also shown promising early results. Treatment resistance continues to be a major barrier achieving remission in patients with major depressive disorder and a thorough re-evaluation of the condition and its treatment is needed.

In vivo molecular imaging reveals distinct distributions of the serotonin transporter, the major inhibitory and excitatory serotonin receptors

Introduction

Based on evidences in molecular neuroimaging, postmortem and genetic studies, impaired serotonergic neurotransmission has been implicated with affective disorders. Moreover, a growing number of evidences showed strong interrelations within the serotonergic system suggesting a common mechanism in the modulation of receptor and transporter densities.

Objective

Here we directly investigated the regional expression of the 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A and 5-HTT using PET and the three highly selective and specific radioligands [carbonyl-11C]WAY-100635, [18F]Altanserin and [11C]DASB in healthy subjects.

Methods

A total of 55 healthy subjects (5-HT1A: 36 subjects, 18 males, age = 26.0 ± 4.9; 5-HT2A: 19 subjects, 11 males, age = 28.2 ± 5.9; 5-HTT: 8 males, age = 28.12 ± 3.6) were included in this study. Binding potential (BPND) values were quantified according to the AAL parcellation scheme.

Results

BPND values averaged over both hemispheres ranged from 0.40–6.35 for the 5-HT1A receptor; 0.01–2.01 for the 5-HT2A receptor and 0.09–2.05 for the 5-HTT, respectively. There was a specific topological pattern according to the ratio between the 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A receptors and 5-HTT (“fingerprints”).

Conclusions

Such information can be essential for detecting potential local alterations in the ratio between different binding proteins on a network level in pathological conditions.

Moreover, these data might provide further insight in area-specific effects of frequently prescribed selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI): 1)

FC25-04 - Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders in adult ADHD patients

Introduction

ADHD is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental syndrome with significant lifetime risk for psychiatric comorbidities. Several psychiatric conditions are significantly more common in patients with ADHD than in control subjects.

Methods

To evaluate the incidence of comorbid affective disorders, patients with adult ADHD who were first seen at the outpatient clinic of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy were evaluated for symptoms of major depression, brief recurrent depression, bipolar depression and anxiety disorders. Patients aged between 18 and 75 years were included into the study. All patients were evaluated according to DSM IV TR criteria. So far, from February 2007 until May 2010, 330 patients (192 males and 138 females) were included into the study.

Results

The mean age of the patients at diagnosis was 33, 7 years for males (range: 18-75) and 35, 9 years for females (range: 18–64). Affective disorders were most frequently diagnosed as comorbid conditions in our patients and occurred in 26% of the patients in our sample. 13% had a minor depressive episode, 7% a major depressive episode and 6% were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 21% of our patients were diagnosed with one or several comorbid anxiety disorders.

Conclusion

Most adults with ADHD are not diagnosed properly and therefore remain untreated although they are usually diagnosed and treated for comorbid psychiatric disorders. In the present study, we systematically analyzed comorbid anxiety and depression in a sample of adult ADHD outpatients in order to estimate the incidence of these disorders in an undiagnosed patient population.

Antipsychotics in obsessive-compulsive disorder - an auspicious approach for treatment-resistant patients?

Introduction

Because only 40 – 60% of all patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) respond to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the evaluation of alternative therapy methods in the presence of treatment resistance has high clinical relevance. In this context, many studies have examined additive medication with antipsychotics.

Method

All double-blind randomised controlled trials (DBRCTs) that evaluated the efficacy of a combination therapy of antipsychotics and SSRIs in treatment-resistant OCD were covered by systematic literature searches.

Results

A total of ten DBRCTs were identified (four for quetiapine, three for risperidone, two for olanzapine and one for haloperidol) with a participant collective comprising in total 316 treatment-resistant OCD patients. After the augmentation therapy, significantly more subjects in the intervention group (antipsychotic + SSRI), 32% of the patients, fulfilled the response criterion (reduction in the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) ≥ 35%) than in the control group (placebo + SSRI) (relative risk (RR) = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.3 – 3.32). The standardised mean difference (SMD) of the Y-BOCS reduction between the pooled two study-groups revealed an effect size of 0,62. The sub-group analyses showed significant efficacy only for haloperidol and risperidone. Further significant differences existed regarding the duration of SSRI medication before the augmentation phase.

Conclusion / Discussion

Based on the favourable benefit-risk-ratio, risperidone can be regarded as the agent of first choice for augmentation treatment with an SSRI. Overall, about one third of patients benefit from this therapy option. However, further scientific studies are needed before sufficiently empirically secured pharmacological treatment recommendations can be expressed.

JS03-01 - Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression in Europe

During the past years substanial knowledge has been obtained both in diagnostics and pharmacotherapy of unipolar depression. Today it is well-established that perturbation of the monoaminergic neurotransmission pathway is implicated in the development of depressive states, and that all currently existing antidepressants act on depressive symptoms by controlling monoamine availability at the synaptic level. According to the data obtained in Europe, it is apparent that these treatments are efficient in only 60–70% of depressed patients and their onset of action is partly delayed by 4–5 weeks. With novel pharmacological approaches recently being introduced, these figures can be improved. With the introduction of agomelatine, for instance, which affects the melatonergic as well as serotonergic pathways, higher response rates than with conventional antidepressants have been demonstrated. Furthermore, treatment of therapy resistance has been advanced with the introduction of atypical antipsychotics. For treatment refractory patients, brain stimulation as well as vagus nerve stimulation showed promising results although the later two methods are only possible in specific treatment centers. The advances in pharmacogenomics and sequencing of the human genome promise for the future to have molecular targets which have not as yet reached the daily practice. The search for new antidepressants based on these considerations has not been completed and the recent findings are promising for the future in regards to research and treatment. The lecture will include data on the neuropsychopharmacological understanding furthermore the future perspectives of treatment approaches will be discussed.

Multimodal imaging of an astrocytoma affecting the amygdalar region

Introduction

Regional alterations of serotonergic neurotransmission and functional activation in the amygdalar region of patients with major depression are underpinning its important role in affective disorders. In this study we used fMRI and PET to describe functional and molecular alterations associtated with an astrocytoma in the left amygdalar region in a patient with organic depressive disorder compared to control subjects.

Methods

The serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) receptor binding (BPND) was quantified with PET (30 frames, 90 min, 4.4 mm FWHM) in 36 subjects using the radioligand [carbonyl-11C]WAY-100635, and a reference tissue model (MRTM2). In fMRI (3T, EPI inplane resolution 1.6*2.7 mm, 10 AC-PC orientated slices, ST = 3 mm, TE/TR = 31/1000 ms), 32 participants performed emotion discrimination and sensorimotor control tasks. Statistical analysis with SPM5 and unpaired t-tests were performed on molecular and functional data separately.

Results

The astrocytoma was delineated in the serotonin-1A receptor distribution showing (p < 0.01, uncorrected) regional BPND decrease. The ipsilateral thalamus and bilateral habenula regions displayed (p < 0.001; uncorrected) BPND increase. The fMRI data showed significantly (p < 0.05; uncorrected) reduced activation in the affected amygdalar region, ipsilateral fusiform gyrus, bilateral orbitofrontal cortex and temporal regions and increased activation in the contralateral temporal pole.

Conclusions

Lower serotonin-1A receptor binding in the left amydala region reflects the glial provenance of the tumor. The increased receptor binding in the habenulae might be associated with altered monoaminergic neurotransmission and depressive symptoms according to the influence of the habenulae on monoaminergic nuclei. The functional data demonstrate neuroplastic changes beyond affected areas and might indicate compensatory mechanisms.

Increased coupling of resting state activity between amygdala and cortical emotion processing regions in remitted major depressive disorder

Introduction

While most neuroimaging studies have investigated acutely depressed patients, neural mechanisms underlying stable remission are rarely examined. Furthermore, the majority of previous functional MRI (fMRI) studies have focused on task-induced neural activity, while resting-state activity may be more reproducible across study centers.

Objectives

To clarify patterns of functional coupling between subcortical structures and cortical resting state activity.

Aims

To determine whether alterations of functional coupling between the amygdala and cortical emotion processing regions characterize patients in the remitted phase of Major Depressive Disorder (rMDD).

Methods

Forty-three remitted depressed patients and thirty-five healthy controls were recruited at Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and performed a six minute resting-state fMRI scan. The scans were corrected for slice timing and motion, as well as for mean white matter, mean CSF, and median gray matter signals. Seed time series were extracted using individual amygdala masks and correlated with all nodes in a surface based analysis using FreeSurfer, AFNI and SUMA. The resulting correlation coefficients were then Fisher-transformed, group results were determined by comparing group mean smoothed (to 8 mm FWHM) z-scores with a two-sample t-test.

Results

Increased resting-state functional connectivity was revealed between amygdala (seed region) and posterior cingulate cortex as well as orbitofrontal cortex in the rMDD group compared to healthy controls.

Conclusions

Our preliminary results suggest altered functional coupling between amygdala and cortical emotion processing areas during resting state conditions, possibly representing a neural mechanism contributing to the maintenance of stable remission of MDD.

FC10-05 - Attenuated serotonin transporter association between midbrain and nucleus accumbens in major depression

Introduction

Patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit alterations in serotonin transporter (5-HTT) binding clinically reflected by lack of hedonic experience. We recently demonstrated the importance to evaluate interregional relationships of neurotransmitter systems, providing important complementary information on a network level.

Objective

To identify interregional 5-HTT relationships between the midbrain raphe region and projection areas in MDD patients compared to controls.

Methods

Eighteen medication-free patients with MDD and 16 healthy subjects underwent PET using [11C] DASB. 5-HTT binding potential (BPND) maps were computed with the multilinear-reference-tissue-model-2 in PMOD3.1. Voxel-wise linear regression was calculated in SPM8 using midbrain 5-HTT BPND as regressor; group comparisons were assessed by ANOVA (p < 0.001).

Results

Healthy subjects showed positive associations between serotonin transporters located in the midbrain and transporters expressed in the nucleus accumbens bilaterally. Importantly, this relationship was significantly decreased in MDD patients as compared to controls (t = 5.41/4.84, right/left hemisphere; see figure).

Conclusions

This study demonstrates for the first time 5-HTT alterations on a network level in MDD patients between the midbrain and a major projection area. Our results complement previous findings emphasizing the importance of the nucleus accumbens in MDD and indicate a disturbed serotonergic regulation in this key area of reward processing.

Prediction of steady-state occupancy of the serotonin transporter based on single-dose occupancy: A [11C]DASB pet study

Introduction

Clinical studies point toward a potential role of the serotonin transporter (SERT) binding as a predictor of clinical outcome in the treatment of depression. After long-term treatment with clinical doses of SSRIs the expected SERT occupancy is about 80%. Here, we were interested to investigate the relationship of SERT occupancy values between short- and longterm treatment.

Objectives

To test if the SERT occupancy at steady-state can be predicted based on the single dose occupancy by escitalopram (S-citalopram) or citalopram (racemate of S-citalopram and R-citalopram).

Methods

18 patients with major depressive disorder received either escitalpram (10 mg/d) or citalopram (20 mg/d) in a double-blind, randomized, longitudinal study. They underwent three PET scans using the radioligand [11C]DASB: PET1 baseline, PET2 6 hours after first drug intake and PET3 after three weeks of daily oral treatment. Occupancy of SERT was quantified in six subcortical regions: thalamus, N. caudatus, putamen, mibrain, dorsal raphe and median raphe nuclei. Data was analyzed by means of multiple linear regression models corrected for baseline SERT availability values using SPSS 15.0.

Results

Single dose occupancy of the SERT significantly predicted steady-state occupancy after three weeks in three regions: thalamus (r2 = 0.45, p = 0.009), N. caudatus (r2 = 0.4, p = 0.006) and putamen (r2 = 0.43, p = 0.005). Other regions did not show significant relationships.

Conclusions

In this study we demonstrated that single-dose occupancy in SERT rich regions such as thalamus, N. caudatus and the putamen could serve as reliable predictors for steady-state occupancy. However, a linear model failed to explain the relationship in regions known for serotonergic cell origin.

Intensive care in psychiatry

Psychiatric intensive care is supposed to offer treatment and to hold patients with psychiatric illness, if they pose a threat to themselves or to others. Besides treating the underlying psychiatric diagnoses, it is also necessary to take care of severe somatic comorbidity, which is often impeded by patients' limited ability to cooperate. Treatment often requires the administration of sedative medication and occasionally the use of medical restraints. Involuntary commitment, involuntary treatment and the usage of physical restraints is regulated by national mental health laws. Medical professionals working in the field of psychiatric intensive care must have expert knowledge in the fields of psychopharmacology and intensive care medicine. Treatment concepts should be aimed to provide optimized care for psychiatric inpatients in a potentially life-threatening phase of their illness. This article outlines current clinical practice at the psychiatric intensive care unit of the Medical University of Vienna (Austria). Furthermore, we present diagnoses, diagnostic procedures and specific treatments of a sample of 100 consecutive inpatients treated in the years 2008 and 2009 at this ward.

Simultaneous protection against anti-EGFR antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and EGFR-signaling blockade by oncogenic RAS

440

Background: Monoclonal antibodies against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have improved treatment options for colorectal cancer (CRC), but tumors harboring RAS mutations are resistant. Full molecular understanding of RAS-mediated protection is key to the development of sensitization strategies.

Methods: We have used cell culture and murine CRC transplant models to study whether RAS solely imposes resistance by compensating EGFR signaling blockade, or additionally interferes with antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC).

Results: Both clinically approved anti-EGFR antibodies, cetuximab and panitumumab, were equally cytotoxic in CRC cells in vitro. Interestingly, cetuximab, a chimeric IgG1 antibody capable of triggering ADCC, was more effective than panitumumab (human IgG2) in murine CRC transplant models in vivo. The advantage of cetuximab in vivo was completely abolished by leukocyte depletion following total body irradiation. Moreover, oncogenic RAS neutralized the in vivo therapeutic activity of cetuximab and panitumumab to the same extent. Mechanistically, RAS conferred antibody resistance by upregulation of BCL-XL, which was overcome by cotreatment with a BH3 mimetic. In support, RAS-mutant primary human CRCs exhibited increased BCL-XL expression as detected by immunohistochemistry.

Conclusions: RAS-mutant CRCs escape anti-EGFR antibody-mediated receptor blockade as well as ADCC in vivo. Pharmacologic modulation of RAS downstream effectors, such as BCL-XL, can restore sensitivity to antibody effector mechanisms.

[Table: see text]

Mortality and employment after in-patient opiate detoxification

AIM

We considered that completed opiate detoxification resulted in increased life expectancy and earning capacity as compared to non-completed detoxification.

METHODS

The cohort study sample included pure opioid or poly-substance addicts admitted for voluntary in-patient detoxification between 1997 and 2004. Of 404 patients, 58.7% completed the detoxification program and 41.3% did not. The Austrian Social Security Institution supplied data on survival and employment records for every single day in the individual observation period between discharge and December 2007. Statistical analyses included the calculation of standardized mortality rates for the follow-up period of up to 11 years.

RESULTS

The standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were between 13.5 and 17.9 during the first five years after discharge, thereafter they fell clearly with time. Mortality did not differ statistically significantly between completers and non-completers. The median employment rate was insignificantly higher in completers (12.0%) than in non-completers (5.5%). The odds for being employed were higher in pure opioid addicts than in poly-substance addicts (p=0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

The assumption that completers of detoxification treatment have a better outcome than non-completers has not been confirmed. The decrease in mortality with time elapsed since detoxification is interesting. Pure opioid addicts had better employment prospects than poly-substance addicts.

Reward and the serotonergic system

Anhedonia, as a failure to experience rewarding stimuli, is a key characteristic of many psychiatric disorders including depression and schizophrenia. Investigations on the neurobiological correlates of reward and hedonia/anhedonia have been a growing subject of research demonstrating several neuromodulators to mediate different aspects of reward processing. Whereas the majority of research on reward mainly focused on the dopamine and opioid systems, a serotonergic mechanism has been neglected. However, recent promising results strengthen the pivotal role of serotonin in reward processing. Evidence includes electrophysical and pharmacological as well as genetic and imaging studies. Primate research using single-unit recording of neurons within the dorsal raphe nucleus argues for a serotonergic mediation of reward value, whereas studies using intracranial self-stimulation point to an important contribution of serotonin in modulating motivational aspects of rewarding brain stimulation. Pharmacological studies using agonists and antagonists of serotonergic receptor subtypes and approaches investigating an increase or decrease of the extracellular level of serotonin offer strong evidence for a serotonergic mediation, ranging from aversion to pleasure. This review provides an argument for serotonin as a fundamental mediator of emotional, motivational and cognitive aspects of reward representation, which makes it possibly as important as dopamine for reward processing.

Acute psychotropic effects of oral cannabis extract with a defined content of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in healthy volunteers

INTRODUCTION

The medical use of cannabinoids is limited mainly by their undesirable effects. With respect to acute psychotropic effects, the aim of this study is the comparison of an oral cannabis extract and low-dose diazepam in a cross-over experiment in drug-naïve healthy women.

METHODS

Sixteen healthy females participated in this randomized, double-blind, active comparator-controlled, single-dose, balanced 2-way cross-over study. Cannabis extract with standardised Delta (9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content (20 mg) or active placebo (5 mg diazepam) was administered orally. Subjects were assessed by self- and observer-rated visual analogue scales (VAS), the BRIEF PSYCHIATRIC RATING SCALE (BPRS) and three psychomotor tests up to 6 h after administration.

RESULTS

VAS showed significantly elevated fatigue, drowsiness, dizziness, and "feeling high" after cannabis as compared to baseline and diazepam. BPRS scores were significantly higher after cannabis intake. Only in one psychomotor test a decrease of psychomotor activity after cannabis was evident. One subject in the cannabis condition experienced severe transient psychotic symptoms.

DISCUSSION

Orally administered cannabis produced significant central depressant side-effects compared to diazepam, mostly subjective effects (VAS) but marginal effects in psychomotor performance in 15 healthy females. Regarding the medical use of cannabis, a rigorous benefit-risk analysis and an exact psychiatric assessment before and during treatment are necessary.

Measles outbreak in Styria, Austria, March-May 2009

In the last week of March 2009, five measles cases among students of an anthroposophic school were reported to the public health authorities in the Austrian province of Styria where only five cases had been reported in the whole of 2008. A descriptive epidemiological investigation of the measles outbreak was performed. Between 2 March and 10 May 2009, 37 cases of measles were identified in Styria: 33 confirmed outbreak cases and four probable outbreak cases. The measles outbreak spread from the general population (12 cases) to an anthroposophic community (25 cases). Cases outside of the anthroposophic community were mostly over 10 years of age (10/12). Thirty-five cases were unvaccinated, and two of the 37 had received one dose of measles, mumps, rubella vaccine. Following a measles outbreak in Salzburg in 2008 with 394 cases, this outbreak reemphasises the continued need for additional vaccination campaigns in population groups over the age of 10 years.

Measles outbreak in Styria, Austria, March-May 2009

In the last week of March 2009, five measles cases among students of an anthroposophic school were reported to the public health authorities in the Austrian province of Styria where only five cases had been reported in the whole of 2008. A descriptive epidemiological investigation of the measles outbreak was performed. Between 2 March and 10 May 2009, 37 cases of measles were identified in Styria: 33 confirmed outbreak cases and four probable outbreak cases. The measles outbreak spread from the general population (12 cases) to an anthroposophic community (25 cases). Cases outside of the anthroposophic community were mostly over 10 years of age (10/12). Thirty-five cases were unvaccinated, and two of the 37 had received one dose of measles, mumps, rubella vaccine. Following a measles outbreak in Salzburg in 2008 with 394 cases, this outbreak reemphasises the continued need for additional vaccination campaigns in population groups over the age of 10 years.