PATIENTS WITH PREMENSTRUAL-SYNDROME HAVE REDUCED SENSITIVITY TO MIDAZOLAM COMPARED TO CONTROL SUBJECTS

Presmenstrual syndrome (PMS) depends on gonadal hormones produced by t he corpus luteum. Given the facilitory actions on GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission excerted by certain progesterone metabolites, furth er studies on the GABA(A) receptor system in premenstrual syndrome are warranted. This study evaluated the benzodiazepine sensitivity in PMS patients and control subjects, using saccadic eye velocity (SEV) and visual analogue ratings of sedation as dependent measures. PMS patient s displayed a significantly reduced SEV responsiveness to benzodiazepi nes compared to control subjects in the follicular phase, whereas ther e was no difference between group in the luteal phase. In the luteal p hase, the sedation response to benzodiazepines was significantly reduc ed in PMS patients compared to control subjects. There was also an inf luence of PMS symptom severity on these measures, as high-severity PMS patients displayed blunted SEV and sedation responses to benzodiazepi nes compared to low-severity patients. These results indicate that PMS patients have a reduced functional sensitivity at the GABA(A)/benzodi azepine receptor complex throughout the menstrual cycle. (C) 1997 Amer ican College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.