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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Rapid In Situ Hybridization using Oligonucleotide Probes on Paraformaldehyde-prefixed Brain of Rats with Serotonin Syndrome
Published on: September 23, 2015
[Insights in the central serotonergic function in patients with affective disorders]
Wolfram Kawohl1, Ulrich Hegerl, Bruno Müller-Oerlinghausen
1Forschungsgruppe Klinische und Klinik für Soziale Psychiatrie und Allgemeinpsychiatrie, ZH West Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, Schweiz. wolfram.kawohl@puk.zh.ch
Objective:
The simple insight in the central serotonergic activity would allow a more specific pharmacotherapy of disorders with serotonergic deficits and could thus serve as a predictive parameter. An antidepressive treatment could be chosen due to the verification or falsification of such a deficit with a serotonergic or noradrenergic substance. In search of predictive parameters we have investigated the loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP), a parameter that has already been discussed concerning this matter, and serotonin levels in the human blood serum regarding their correlation.
Methods:
Eight outpatients of a lithium clinics were investigated neurophysiologically after blood samples had been taken.
Results:
A significant negative correlation between LDAEP and serotonin level in the serum was found, a low serotonin level correlates with a high LDAEP.
Conclusions:
The result of this pilot study justifies further investigations with larger sample sizes. In case of further and stable evidence the use of serotonin levels in the serum as a predicitve parameter is conceivable.
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