Stress-related changes of benzodiazepine binding inhibitory activity (B.B.I.A.) in humans

The presence of benzodiazepine binding inhibitory activity (B.B.I.A.) in sera from 44 psychiatric patients and from 14 healthy volunteers, prompted us to investigate whether or not this activity underwent changes in stressful situations. We measured the inhibitory units (IU) of deproteinized sera of 12 subjects, immediately before and 2 weeks after sitting for a difficult university exam. Our results showed significantly higher IU values (i.e., higher B.B.I.A. concentrations) in the samples taken just before the exam. This preliminary finding clearly suggests the involvement of B.B.I.A. in anxiety mechanisms.