 |
|
Season as a Possible Confounding Factor in Reduced Brain Serotonin Turnover Following Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Therapy
Fotios C. Papadopoulos, MD, PhD
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
|
|
|
We read with great interest the study of Barton et al,1 which provides new insights into brain serotonin metabolism and its possible implications in the pathogenesis of major depression by applying innovative, state-of-the-art techniques. We would like to raise 2 methodological issues.
To avoid a confounding effect of serotonergic neuronal systems activated by sunlight, Barton et al selected healthy volunteers from a large pool of subjects to achieve matching for sunlight hours on the day of the catheter sampling. However, even though sunlight duration may be a suitable measure of sunlight exposure in large epidemiological studies with homogenous samples, it may not be optimal when studying smaller and heterogeneous groups, such as patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls. In the latter case, individual history of exposure to sunlight could have been used in addition to sunlight duration. Depressed individuals may be less . . . [Full Text of this Article]
AUTHOR INFORMATION
RELATED ARTICLE
Elevated Brain Serotonin Turnover in Patients With Depression: Effect of Genotype and Therapy
David A. Barton, Murray D. Esler, Tye Dawood, Elisabeth A. Lambert, Deepak Haikerwal, Celia Brenchley, Florentia Socratous, Jacqueline Hastings, Ling Guo, Glen Wiesner, David M. Kaye, Richard Bayles, Markus P. Schlaich, and Gavin W. Lambert
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(1):38-46.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
RELATED LETTER
Season as a Possible Confounding Factor in Reduced Brain Serotonin Turnover Following Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Therapy—Reply
David A. Barton, Murray D. Esler, and Gavin W. Lambert
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(10):1225.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
|
