Dopamine transporter density of basal ganglia assessed with [123I]IPT SPET in obsessive-compulsive disorder

It has been suggested that dopamine, as well as serotonin, is associated with the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thus, many studies have been performed on brain regions associated with dopamine in patients with OCD. In the present study, we investigated the DAT density of the basal ganglia using iodine-123 labelled N-(3-iodopropen-2-yl)-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl) tropane ([123I]IPT) single-photon emission tomography (SPET) and evaluated the activity of the presynaptic dopamine function in patients with OCD. Fifteen patients with OCD and 19 normal control adults were included in the study. We performed brain SPET 2 h after the intravenous administration of [123I]IPT and carried out both quantitative and qualitative analyses using the obtained SPET data, which were reconstructed for the assessment of the specific/non-specific dopamine transporter (DAT) binding ratio in the basal ganglia. We then investigated the correlation between the severity scores of OCD symptoms assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the specific/non-specific DAT binding ratio of the basal ganglia. Compared with normal control adults, patients with OCD showed a significantly increased specific/non-specific DAT binding ratio in the right basal ganglia and a tendency towards an increased specific/non-specific DAT binding ratio in the left basal ganglia. No significant correlation was found between the total scores on the Y-BOCS and the specific/non-specific DAT binding ratio of the basal ganglia. These findings suggest that the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system of the basal ganglia in patients with OCD could be involved in the pathophysiology of OCD.