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Dopamine function in obsessive-compulsive disorder: growth hormone response to apomorphine stimulation
F Brambilla1, L Bellodi, G Perna
1Psychoneuroendocrine Center, Istituto Scientifico H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
Biological Psychiatry
|November 14, 1997
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients show blunted growth hormone (GH) responses to apomorphine (APO), suggesting dopaminergic system dysregulation. This indicates potential differences in central nervous system expression within OCD pathophysiology.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Indirect evidence suggests dopaminergic system involvement in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) pathophysiology.
- Evaluating dopaminergic function is crucial for understanding OCD mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess dopaminergic function in OCD patients by measuring growth hormone (GH) response to apomorphine (APO) stimulation.
- To exclude confounding factors by measuring basal GH, somatomedin C (SMD-C), and GH response to GHRH, as well as prolactin (PRL) response to APO.
Main Methods:
- Compared 15 OCD patients with 15 age/sex-matched controls.
- Measured basal plasma GH, SMD-C, and PRL levels.
- Assessed GH response to GHRH stimulation and PRL response to APO inhibition.
- Measured GH and emetic responses to APO stimulation.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found in basal GH, SMD-C, PRL levels, GH response to GHRH, or PRL response to APO between groups.
- GH response to APO stimulation was significantly blunted in OCD patients.
- OCD patients exhibited a stronger emetic response to APO stimulation compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Results suggest a dysregulation of the dopaminergic system in OCD patients.
- This dysregulation may manifest differently across various central nervous system areas.
- Dopaminergic dysfunction is implicated in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder.