Randomised trial, 1997
Do women with PMDD have lower serotonin activity?
Women with PMDD had a significantly weaker hormone response to a serotonin challenge compared to healthy women, suggesting lower serotonin activity may be involved in PMDD. However, this is a very small laboratory study, so findings need confirmation.
What they did
Researchers gave 9 women with PMDD and 11 healthy women the drug fenfluramine during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Fenfluramine releases serotonin in the brain. They measured prolactin response, a hormone that rises when serotonin is active, to assess serotonin activity.
What they found
Compared with healthy women, women with PMDD showed a significantly weaker hormone response (prolactin) to fenfluramine, suggesting lower serotonin activity.
What it means for you
This finding supports the theory that low serotonin activity is involved in PMDD, which helps explain why serotonin-boosting drugs help PMDD. However, this is a very small study using an indirect measure of serotonin, and it only looked at one point in the menstrual cycle. Much larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.
9
women with PMDD
11
healthy control women
Luteal phase
timing of test
About the study
- Original title
- Blunted serotonin response to fenfluramine challenge in premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Authors
- FitzGerald M, Malone KM, Li S et al.
- Journal
- The American journal of psychiatry
- Year
- 1997
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 11
- What was tested
- Fenfluramine challenge test during luteal phase
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1176/ajp.154.4.556
Topics
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