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Reduced platelet serotonergic responsivity as assessed by dense granule secretion in first-episode psychosis
Ravinder D Reddy1, Matcheri S Keshavan, Jeffrey K Yao
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Objectives:
To determine whether blunted serotonergic responsivity, indicated by decreased platelet dense granule secretion (DGS), occurs in neuroleptic-naïve patients with schizophrenia, as observed previously in chronic schizophrenia.
Design And Methods:
Serotonin (5-HT)-amplified DGS was examined in 40 first-episode neuroleptic-naïve patients (24 with schizophrenia and 16 with mood disorders) and 24 healthy subjects.
Results:
Healthy controls showed robustly increased DGS. Schizophrenic patients showed very modest DGS increases; mood disorder patients showed intermediate response.
Conclusions:
Blunted DGS appears to a characteristic of schizophrenia that is observed in the treatment-naïve condition.
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