SEROTONERGIC FUNCTIONING IN DEPRESSED ABUSED-CHILDREN - CLINICAL AND FAMILIAL CORRELATES

Background: The goal of this study was to examine serotonergic functio ning and concomitant clinical and familial correlates in depressed abu sed children. Methods: L-5-Hydroxytryptophan (L-5-HTP) (0.8 mg/kg) was administered intravenously to 10 depressed abused (MDD-AB), 10 depres sed nonabused (MDD-NA) and 10 normal control nonabused (NC-NA) childre n. The children in the two nonabused cohorts represent a small marched subset of children from a larger interlocking study of the psychobiol ogy of depression. Blood samples for prolactin and cortisol were colle cted from 30 min before to 2.5 hours after L-5-HTP infusion, Results: The MDD-AB children secreted significantly more prolactin post-L-5-HTP than the children in the other two groups. There were no differences in baseline prolactin or any of the cortisol measures. Total prolactin post-L-5-HTP was significantly correlated with clinical ratings of ag gressive behavior (rho = .48). In addition children with a family hist ory positive for suicide attempt (MDD-AB: n = 7; MDD-NA: n = 5; NC-NA: n = 2) secreted significantly more prolactin post-L-5-HTP than childr en with no family history of suicide. Conclusions: Dysregulation in th e serotonergic system in abused children appears to be related to both familial and experiential factors. (C) 1998 Society of Biological Psy chiatry.