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Platelet adenylate cyclase responses in depression: Implications for a receptor defect

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Abstract

The dose-dependent stimulatory response of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) on the net synthesis of 3H-adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) in platelets whose adenine nucleotide pools had been labelled by prior incubation with 3H-adenine was measured. Also, the dose-dependent inhibition produced by norepinephrine (NE) on this stimulatory process was evaluated. Platelets were obtained from eleven moderately depressed male patients and from eight non-depressed normal male control subjects. No difference was noted between the two groups of subjects either in the stimulation produced by PGE1 or in the inhibition caused by NE. Subdividing the patients into different subgroups (e.g., bipolar or unipolar) did not produce any significant differences. This finding suggests that there is no generalized defect in alpha adrenergic responses in depressed male patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 19104, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Yao -Chun Wang, Joe Mendels & Alan Frazer

  2. Affective Diseases Research Unit, Veterans Administration Hospital, 19104, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Ghanshyam N. Pandey, Joe Mendels & Alan Frazer

Authors
  1. Yao -Chun Wang
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  2. Ghanshyam N. Pandey
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  3. Joe Mendels
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  4. Alan Frazer
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Additional information

The work presented here is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania.

This investigation was supported in part by Research Funds from the Veterans Administration and NIH Grant HL-01813.

The assistance of Dr. Carl Cochrane (Behavioral Sciences Center, Bowman-Gray School of Medicine) with the statistical analysis of the data is gratefully acknowledged. The nursing staff, 7 East, Philadelphia Veterans Administration Hospital, was most helpful with the daily management of the patients studied. The research was supported by Research Funds from the Veterans Administration.

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Wang, Y.C., Pandey, G.N., Mendels, J. et al. Platelet adenylate cyclase responses in depression: Implications for a receptor defect. Psychopharmacologia 36, 291–300 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422561

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422561

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