Usefulness of serotoninergic challenge with oral citalopram

• Autor(a) principal: Mattos,Paulo
• Data de Publicação: 2006
• Outros Autores: Franco,Vanessa A, Noel,François, Segenreich,Daniel, Gonçalves,José Carlos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry (São Paulo. 1999. Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462006000300011
• topic: Citalopram; Cortisol; Prolactin; GH; Challenge

OBJECTIVE: Challenge tests designed to evaluate serotoninergic pathways have widely used intravenous citalopram. Oral citalopram has also been used, but unsatisfactory results were obtained with a dose of 20 mg. The objective of this study was to determine whether a higher oral dose would reproduce similar to those described for intravenous administration. To that end, we evaluated cortisol, growth hormone and prolactin levels. METHOD: Eight healthy male volunteers were evaluated in a randomized crossover challenge test with 40 mg of oral citalopram or placebo. RESULTS: Cortisol levels increased at 2-4h after the oral citalopram intake, with a small amplitude peak occurring in two-thirds of the subjects. Levels of prolactin and growth hormone remained unchanged throughout the study. CONCLUSION: The use of oral citalopram might present an alternative in serotoninergic challenge tests, but higher doses are required.