Central serotonin activity and aggression: inverse relationship with prolactin response to d-fenfluramine, but not CSF 5-HIAA concentration, in human subjects

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 154; no. 10; pp. 1430 - 1435
• Main Authors: COCCARO, E. F, KAVOUSSI, R. J, COOPER, T. B, HAUGER, R. L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Publishing 01.10.1997; American Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aggression - physiology; Aggressiveness; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - drug effects; Brain - physiology; Drug therapy; Female; Fenfluramine - pharmacology; Hormones; Humans; Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid - cerebrospinal fluid; Male; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Neurology; Personality Disorders - blood; Personality Disorders - cerebrospinal fluid; Personality Disorders - diagnosis; Prolactin - blood; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Serotonin - physiology; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Violence; Human; Protein hormone; Adenohypophyseal hormone; Serotonin; Prolactin; Biological marker; Cerebrospinal fluid; Social behavior disorder; Personality disorder; Aggressiveness; Indoleacetic acid(5-hydroxy)
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/ajp.154.10.1430

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the nature and magnitude of the relationship between aggression and CSF 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5- HIAA) concentration with that between aggression and the prolactin response to d-fenfluramine challenge in human subjects. METHOD: The Life History of Aggression assessment scores of 24 subjects with personality disorders were compared with their lumbar CSF 5-HIAA concentrations and with their prolactin responses to d-fenfluramine challenge. RESULTS: Aggression was significantly and inversely correlated with prolactin responses to d-fenfluramine challenge but not with lumbar CSF 5-HIAA concentrations in these subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Prolactin response to d-fenfluramine may be more sensitive than lumbar CSF 5-HIAA concentration in detecting a relationship between aggression and central serotonin activity in noncriminally violent human subjects.