VENTILATORY EFFECTS OF TRYPTOPHAN DEPLETION IN PANIC DISORDER - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

On the basis of preclinical studies, we hypothesized that deficient se rotonin neurotransmission may be associated with the respiratory hyper activity and carbon dioxide sensitivity seen in panic disorder. We use d the tryptophan depletion method to investigate the effects of transi ent reductions in serotonin on respiration in five patients with panic disorder and seven normal control subjects. During room air breathing , the patients showed significantly increased ventilation when tryptop han-depleted, while the normal subjects showed no significant changes in respiration. These preliminary data suggest that serotonergic manip ulation may affect ventilatory indices, with panic disorder patients b eing particularly sensitive to the effect of tryptophan depletion.