Low Serotonin Tied to Stress
North Carolina researchers report that individuals with low levels of
the serotonin indicator 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) show a
significant stress-induced increase in proinflammatory cytokines that
have been associated with atherosclerosis.
"This suggests that long-term stress, depression, or hostility, which
are predictive of low levels of serotonin, may also be risk factors for
atherosclerosis," Dr. Edward C. Suarez of Duke University Medical
Center told Reuters Health in an interview during the annual meeting of
the American Psychosomatic Society annual meeting in Savannah, Georgia,
where he presented his findings.
Dr. Suarez and colleagues measured 5-HIAA levels in the cerebrospinal
fluid of 56 healthy adults aged 18 to 49 years to determine serotonin
levels.
The following day, study participants spent 1-1/2 hours recalling
events that caused them anger or sadness. The researchers obtained
blood samples, both prior to and immediately following the stress
protocol to measure levels of interleukin 1-alpha (IL-1a) and tumor
necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a).
"The 18 participants with low 5-HIAA showed 5- to 6-fold higher
IL-1-alpha levels than those in the moderate to high 5-HIAA groups,"
Dr. Suarez told Reuters Health.
Dr. Suarez added that "men in the low 5-HIAA group had 2-fold higher
levels of TNF-alpha compared with men with moderate to high
concentrations of 5-HIAA." "In women the opposite occurred, possibly
due to estrogen," he said.
The results of this study show that low serotonin levels, which are
characteristic of behavioral risk factors of atherosclerosis, are
associated with the same inflammatory responses that promote
atherogenesis.
This means that "a person's external behavior may have a direct effect on the way immune cells work," Dr. Suarez said.
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