Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:483-494
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
Neuroendocrine correlates of lactate-induced anxiety and their response to chronic alprazolam therapy
DB Carr, DV Sheehan, OS Surman, JH Coleman, DJ Greenblatt, GR Heninger, KJ Jones, PH Levine and WD Watkins
Lactate infusions are anxiogenic in patients with panic disorder or
agoraphobia with panic attacks, but few neuroendocrine profiles of this
effect have appeared. The authors measured the number and intensity of
panic symptoms and blood hormone levels during double-blind lactate
infusions in 25 patients and 10 normal subjects and during placebo
infusions in another five patients. Each patient was rechallenged with an
identical infusate after chronic double-blind outpatient treatment with
alprazolam or placebo. The results confirm the effectiveness of lactate
infusions in evoking anxiety, extend previous hormone profiles of this
maneuver, and indicate that chronic alprazolam treatment minimizes the
neuroendocrine response to lactate challenges in patients with panic
disorder or agoraphobia with panic attacks.
