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Altered serotonin transporter availability in patients with multiple sclerosis

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 15 May 2014

Abstract

Purpose

Modulation of the immune system by the CNS may involve serotonergic regulation via the brain serotonin transporters (SERT). This regulation may be disturbed in patients with CNS disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS). Central serotonergic mechanisms have not been investigated in MS by in vivo imaging. The objective of the study was to assess the availability of SERT in antidepressant-naive patients with MS by means of PET.

Methods

Included in this study were 23 patients with MS and 22 matched healthy volunteers who were investigated with PET and the SERT-selective marker [11C]DASB, and distribution volume ratios were determined. Clinical assessment of the patients included the expanded disability status scale, the MS fatigue scale Würzburger Erschöpfungsinventar bei MS (WEIMuS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The PET data were analysed with both volume-of-interest and voxel-based analyses to determine regional SERT availability.

Results

Patients had lower SERT availability in the cingulate cortex, the thalamus and the insula, and increased availability in the orbitofrontal cortex. Patients with relapsing/remitting MS tended to have lower SERT in the hippocampus, whereas patients with primary progressive disease showed increased SERT availability in prefrontal regions. There was a positive correlation between SERT availability in the insula and both depression and fatigue scores (r = 0.56 vs. BDI, p = 0.02; r = 0.49 vs. WEIMuS, p = 0.05).

Conclusion

Serotonergic neurotransmission in MS patients is altered in limbic and paralimbic regions as well as in the frontal cortex that this appears to contribute to psychiatric symptoms of MS.

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Acknowledgment

We are grateful to Bärbel Schellenberg for helping us with genotype analysis.

Conflicts of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 18, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Swen Hesse, Julia Luthardt, Georg-Alexander Becker, Marianne Patt, Anita Seese, Philipp M. Meyer & Osama Sabri

  2. Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Franziska Moeller, Eva Thomae & Florian Then Bergh

  3. Coordinating Centre for Clinical Studies, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    David Petroff

  4. Department of Neuroradiology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Donald Lobsien

  5. Clinical Pharmacology, Rudolf-Boehm-Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Leipzig, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107, Leipzig, Germany

    Ralf Regenthal

  6. Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Swen Hesse & Osama Sabri

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  1. Swen Hesse
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  2. Franziska Moeller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Swen Hesse.

Additional information

Florian Then Bergh and Osama Sabri contributed equally to this work.

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Hesse, S., Moeller, F., Petroff, D. et al. Altered serotonin transporter availability in patients with multiple sclerosis. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 41, 827–835 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2636-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2636-z

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