Abnormal peripheral benzodiazepine receptor density associated with generalized social phobia

Peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors on platelets are correlated with the degrees of anxiety in normal human subjects

“…A decrease in PBR has also been demonstrated in several psychiatric disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (Ferrarese et al1990;Rocca et al 1991;Weizman et al 1987), generalized social phobia (Johnson et al 1998), panic disorder (Marazziti et al 1994), and posttraumatic stress disorder (Gavish et al 1996). The main symptom of these disorders is anxiety.…”

Evidence that variation in the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) gene influences susceptibility to panic disorder

“…Indeed, upregulation of PBR was demonstrated in healthy subjects after exposure to acute stress, while downregulation is a consistent finding during chronic stressful conditions [Gavish et al, 1992;Drugan, 1996]. A decrease in PBR has also been demonstrated in several psychiatric disorders, such as GAD [Weizman et al, 1987;Ferrarese et al, 1990;Rocca et al, 1991], GSP [Johnson et al, 1998], PD [Marazziti et al, 1994], and PTSD, but not in obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD) [Gavish et al, 1996] or major depression [Weizman et al, 1995]. In our present study, the G/ G genotype was significantly more frequent in the PD subjects than in the control subjects.…”

“…Acute stress is associated with increases in PBR in several tissues, whereas chronic stress is associated with a decrease in PBR binding capacity [Gavish et al, 1992;Drugan, 1996]. Also, decreased PBR levels have been demonstrated in several psychiatric disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) [Weizman et al, 1987;Ferrarese et al, 1990;Rocca et al, 1991], generalized social phobia (GSP) [Johnson et al, 1998], PD [Marazziti et al, 1994], and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [Gavish et al, 1996]. FG7142, a benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonist, induced severe anxiety that resembled panic attacks and biological characteristics of anxiety in healthy subjects [Dorow et al, 1983].…”

A preliminary study of baclofen‐induced growth hormone release in generalised social phobia

“…Peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (PBRs) are involved in regulating stress responses and have been found to be reduced in number in patients with panic disorder (Marazziti et al, 1994), post-traumatic stress disorder (Gavish et al, 1996) and generalised anxiety disorder (Weizman et al, 1987;Ferrarese et al, 1990;Rocca et al, 1991), but not in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Marazziti et al, 1994) or major depression (Weizman et al, 1995). Johnson et al (1998) found a significant decrease in PBR in 53 patients with generalised social phobia in comparison with normal controls, suggesting that PBR downregulation may be part of a common mechanism of GABA dysfunction in a subset of chronic anxiety states rather than a nonspecific response to stress. In contrast, Coupland et al (2000), employed flumazenil, a benzodiazepine antagonist in patients with social phobia, known to precipitate panic attacks in patients with panic disorder but not in those with post-traumatic stress disorder or alcohol dependency.…”