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Background: Neuroticism is a major risk factor for affective disorders. This personality trait has been hypothesized to associate with synaptic availability of the serotonin transporter, which critically controls serotonergic tone in the brain. However, earlier studies linking neuroticism and serotonin transporter have failed to produce converging findings. Because sex affects both the serotonergic system and the risk that neuroticism poses to the individual, sex may modify the association between neuroticism and serotonin transporter, but this question has not been investigated by previous studies.Methods: Here, we combined data from 4 different positron emission tomography imaging centers to address whether neuroticism is related to serotonin transporter binding in vivo. The data set included serotonin transporter binding potential values from the thalamus and striatum and personality scores from 91 healthy males and 56 healthy females. We specifically tested if the association between neuroticism and serotonin transporter is different in females and males.Results: We found that neuroticism and thalamic serotonin transporter binding potentials were associated in both males and females, but with opposite directionality. Higher neuroticism associated with higher serotonin transporter binding potential in males (standardized beta 0.292, P=.008), whereas in females, higher neuroticism associated with lower serotonin transporter binding potential (standardized beta -0.288, P=.014).Conclusions: The finding is in agreement with recent studies showing that the serotonergic system is involved in affective disorders differently in males and females and suggests that contribution of thalamic serotonin transporter to the risk of affective disorders depends on sex.

The central serotonergic system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of panic disorder (PD) by evidence of abnormally elevated serotonin-turnover, reduced pre- and post-synaptic 5-HT1Axreceptor sensitivity and binding and clinical improvement during administration of agents that enhance serotonergic transmission. Polymorphisms in genes that putatively influence serotonergic neurotransmission increase the vulnerability for developing PD specifically in males. We tested the hypotheses that serotonin transporter (5-HTT) binding is elevated in PD subjects vs. healthy controls in regions where in vivo evidence exists for both elevated 5-HTT and 5-HT1A receptor levels in PD and investigated whether the extent of this difference depends upon gender. Volunteers were out-patients with current PD (n=24) and healthy controls (n=24). The non-displaceable com- ponent of 5-HTT binding-potential (BPND) was measured using positron emission tomography and the 5-HTT selective radioligand, ( 11 C)DASB. PD severity was assessed using the PD Severity Scale. The 5-HTT-BPND was increased in males with PD relative to male controls in the anterior cingulate cortex (F=8.96, pFDR=0.01) and midbrain (F=5.09, pFDR=0.03). In contrast, BPND did not differ between females with PD and female controls in any region examined. The finding that 5-HTT-binding is elevated in males but not in females with PD converges with other evidence suggesting that dysfunction within the central serotonergic system exists in PD, and also indicates that such abnormalities are influenced by gender. These findings conceivably may reflect a sexual dimorphism that underlies the greater efficacy of serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment in females vs. males with PD. Received 4 April 2012 ; Reviewed 17 May 2012 ; Revised 19 June 2012 ; Accepted 21 June 2012

Introduction The dopamine-type-1 receptor has been implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD) by clinical and preclinical evidence from neuroimaging, post-mortem and behavioral studies. To date, however, selective in vivo assessment of D1-receptors has been limited to the striatum in MDD-samples manifesting anger attacks. We employed the PET radioligand, [11C]NNC-112, to selectively assess D1-receptor binding in extrastriatal and striatal regions in a more generalized sample of MDD-subjects. Methods The [11C]NNC-112 nondisplaceable binding-potential (BPND) was assessed using PET in 18 unmedicated, currently-depressed subjects with MDD and 19 healthy controls, and compared between groups using MRI-based region-of-interest analysis. Results The mean D1-receptor BPND was reduced (14%) in the left middle caudate of the MDD group relative to control group (p

Background Altered serotonergic function is thought to play a role in the pathophysiology of major depressive episodes based upon evidence from neuroimaging, pharmacological, postmortem and genetic studies. It remains unclear, however, whether depressed samples that differ with respect to having shown a unipolar versus a bipolar illness course also would show distinct patterns of abnormalities within the serotonergic system. The current study compared serotonin transporter (5-HTT) binding between unipolar-depressives (MDD), bipolar-depressives (BD) and healthy-controls (HC) to assess whether the abnormalities in 5-HTT binding recently found in depressed subjects with BD extend to depressed subjects with MDD. Methods The 5-HTT binding-potential (BP) measured using positron emission tomography (PET) and [ 11 C]DASB was compared between unmedicated, depressed subjects with MDD ( n = 18) or BD ( n = 18) and HC ( n = 34). Results Relative to the healthy group both MDD and BD groups showed significantly increased 5-HTT BP in the thalamus (24%, 14%, respectively), insula (15%) and striatum (12%). The unipolar-depressives had elevated 5-HTT BP relative to both BD and HC groups in the vicinity of the periaqueductal gray (PAG, 20%, 22%, respectively). The bipolar-depressives had reduced 5-HTT BP relative to both HC and MDD groups in the vicinity of the pontine raphe nuclei. Depression-severity correlated negatively with 5-HTT BP in the thalamus in MDD-subjects. Conclusions The depressed phases of MDD and BD both were associated with elevated 5-HTT binding in the insula, thalamus and striatum, but showed distinct abnormalities in the brainstem. The latter findings conceivably could underlie differences in the patterns of illness symptoms and pharmacological sensitivity observed between MDD and BD.

Background Evidence from neuroimaging post-mortem, and genetic studies suggests that bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with abnormalities of the serotonin-transporter (5-HTT) system. Because of various limitations of these studies, however, it has remained unclear whether 5-HTT binding is abnormal in unmedicated BD-subjects. This study used PET and [11C]DASB, a radioligand that afforded higher sensitivity and specificity for the 5-HTT than previously available radioligands, to compare 5-HTT binding between BD and control subjects. Methods The 5-HTT binding-potential (BP) was assessed in 18 currently-depressed, unmedicated BD-subjects and 37 healthy controls using PET and [11C]DASB. Results In BD, the mean 5-HTT BP was increased in thalamus, dorsal cingulate cortex (DCC), medial prefrontal cortex and insula and decreased in the brainstem at the level of the pontine raphe-nuclei. Anxiety ratings correlated positively with 5-HTT BP in insula and DCC, and BP in these regions was higher in subjects manifesting pathological obsessions and compulsions relative to BD-subjects lacking such symptoms. Subjects with a history of suicide attempts showed reduced 5-HTT binding in the midbrain and increased binding in anterior cingulate cortex versus controls and to BD-subjects without attempts. Conclusions This is the first study to report abnormalities in 5-HTT binding in unmedicated BD-subjects. The direction of abnormality in the brainstem was opposite to that found in the cortex, thalamus, and striatum. Elevated 5-HTT binding in the cortex may be related to anxiety symptoms and syndromes associated with BD.