The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including with new information specifically addressed to individuals in the European Economic Area. As described in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences.

Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.

×
No Access

CSF somatostatin in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.150.3.460

OBJECTIVE: Because the central administration of somatostatin to experimental animals produces behaviors with some similarities to the compulsions of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and because serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been reported to reduce brain content of somatostatin, the authors examined central somatostatin activity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. METHOD: CSF for measurement of somatostatin was obtained from 15 drug-free outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 27 normal volunteers. RESULTS: The mean CSF somatostatin level was significantly higher in the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder than in the normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Although the functional significance of this finding is unknown, these data are consistent with a role for somatostatin in the clinical symptomatology of obsessive-compulsive disorder and its response to neuropharmacological agents. The high levels of CSF somatostatin reported here in a patient subgroup whose predominant symptoms consisted of overly focused, perseverative thought processes are in contrast to the consistently low levels of CSF somatostatin seen in patients with a spectrum of disorders characterized by substantial cognitive deficits.

Access content

To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.