TY - JOUR
T1 - Noradrenergic function in obsessive-compulsive disorder
T2 - Behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to clonidine and comparison to healthy controls
AU - Hollander, Eric
AU - DeCaria, Concetta
AU - Nitescu, Anca
AU - Cooper, Thomas
AU - Stover, Bert
AU - Gully, Robert
AU - Klein, Donald F.
AU - Liebowitz, Michael R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgment. The authors gratefully acknowledge statistical consultation with Donald Ross, Ph.D., and Jihad B. Saoud, M.S., assistanceb y Michael Fay, R.N., and Sari Trungold, B.A., and performanceo f biochemicalandn euroendocrineassaybsy Hanna Novacenko,M .S., and David Allen. Clonidine hydrochloride was provided by Boehringer lngelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ridgefield, CT. The authors are grateful for the help of the pharmacya t the N.Y. State Psychiatric Institute. This investigation was supported in part by grants MH-30906. Biomedical Research Support Grants, and Research Scientist Development Award MH-00750 (Dr. Hollander) from the National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville. MD.
PY - 1991/5
Y1 - 1991/5
N2 - To evaluate noradrenergic (NE) function in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), behavioral, phychological, and neuroendocrine responses to the α2-adrenergic agonist clonidine were examined in 18 patients with OCD and 10 healthy subjects. Subjects received single i.v. doses of 2μg/kg of clonidine administered under double-blind, placebo-controlled, random-assignment conditions. Following clonidine, but not following placebo, patients transiently experienced a significant reduction of obsessions and compulsions. Significant drowsiness and a reduction in anxiety were also noted, but the antiobsessional effect appeard independent of the soporific and antianxiety effects. Growth hormone (GH), cortisol, and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol responses to clonidine did not differentiate patients from healthy controls. Blood pressure and pulse in response to clonidine did not differ between groups. Improvement in OCD symptoms after clonidine significantly correlated with GH response to clonidine, suggesting specific noradrenergic mediation. This finding lends only partial support for a primary defect of noradrenergic function in OCD.
AB - To evaluate noradrenergic (NE) function in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), behavioral, phychological, and neuroendocrine responses to the α2-adrenergic agonist clonidine were examined in 18 patients with OCD and 10 healthy subjects. Subjects received single i.v. doses of 2μg/kg of clonidine administered under double-blind, placebo-controlled, random-assignment conditions. Following clonidine, but not following placebo, patients transiently experienced a significant reduction of obsessions and compulsions. Significant drowsiness and a reduction in anxiety were also noted, but the antiobsessional effect appeard independent of the soporific and antianxiety effects. Growth hormone (GH), cortisol, and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol responses to clonidine did not differentiate patients from healthy controls. Blood pressure and pulse in response to clonidine did not differ between groups. Improvement in OCD symptoms after clonidine significantly correlated with GH response to clonidine, suggesting specific noradrenergic mediation. This finding lends only partial support for a primary defect of noradrenergic function in OCD.
KW - 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol
KW - Obsessive-compulsive disorder
KW - anxiety disorders
KW - clonidine
KW - growth hormone
KW - norepinephrine
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U2 - 10.1016/0165-1781(91)90073-X
DO - 10.1016/0165-1781(91)90073-X
M3 - Article
C2 - 1876628
AN - SCOPUS:0025806756
SN - 0165-1781
VL - 37
SP - 161
EP - 177
JO - Psychiatry Research
JF - Psychiatry Research
IS - 2
ER -
