Aberrant seasonal variations of platelet serotonin uptake in endogenous depression

The serotonin uptake in platelets of 120 healthy volunteers and 64 endogenously depressed patients was investigated over a 2-year period. In healthy individuals, Km exhibited a significant seasonal rhythm during the bright half of the year. The seasonal rhythm of Vmax assumes the form of a sine curve, with nadir values at the vernal and autumn equinoxes and peak values at the winter and summer solstices. Km in patients was higher than in controls in February and October, and the seasonal variation of Km differed between patients and controls. The monthly mean values of Vmax in patients were, as a rule, lower than corresponding values in controls, but significantly so only in December. Patients had higher Vmax than controls in October and November, and the seasonal variation of Vmax in patients differed from that of controls. The results suggest that Km, a measure of the affinity of the serotonin uptake site, may be subject to photoperiodic regulation in healthy individuals. The annual variation in uptake site densities, as judged by the changes in Vmax, are probably generated by an endogenous superior oscillator. The aberrant uptake kinetics found in the endogenously depressed patients may reflect seasonal susceptibility to the disorder and/or altered serotonergic rhythmicity.