SERT and DAT availabilities under citalopram treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Serotonin and dopamine transporter (SERT, DAT) availabilities have prospectively been investigated using [123I]β-CIT and single photon emission computed tomography in subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder under treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram. SERT availability decreased by a mean 36.5%, whereas DAT availability increased by about 40%. The data point at a citalopram induced modulation of both serotonergic and dopaminergic activity and support the notion of functional interactions of monoaminergic systems in the human brain.