Depressive Symptoms are Associated with low Serotonin Levels in Plasma but are not 5–HTTLPR Genotype Dependent in Older Adults

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are diagnosed by physicians using scales but their pathophysiology is unclear. Low serotonin (5–HT) levels play an important role in depression, and the 5–HT transporter (5–HTT) is an important regulator of plasma serotonin levels and reuptake. Additionally, the 5–HTT gene-linked polymorphic region (5–HTTLPR) is associated with depression. The aim was to clarify the roles of plasma serotonin levels in plasma and the 5HTTPLR polymorphism in depressive symptoms in older adults. A total of 84 older adult participants were evaluated. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale of 20 items (CESD–20). The plasma serotonin levels were determined by ELISA, and the 5–HTTLPR genotype was analyzed by PCR. Depressive symptoms were present in 39.3% (N = 33) of the participants. The median plasma serotonin level was 204.34 ng/mL (SD = 93.88). A significant correlation was found between the CESD–20 scale and plasma serotonin levels (r = –.256; p = .019). Low serotonin levels were associated with the presence of depressive symptoms (p = .001). The 5–HTTLPR analysis showed that of the 84 older adults, 35.7% had the SS genotype, 10.7% had the LL genotype, and 53.6% were heterozygous. The 5–HTTLPR polymorphism was not associated with depressive symptoms (p = .587) and plasma serotonin levels (p = 0.391). Depressive symptoms correlate with low serotonin levels in plasma, but not with the 5–HTTLPR polymorphism in older Mexican adults.

Investigation of acute organophosphate poisoning in humans based on sociodemographic and role of neurotransmitters with survival study in South India

“…Because serotonin and dopamine cannot be transported across the blood‒brain barrier, it is difficult to assess behavioural and functional changes in OP-poisoned patients 37 . Although according to previous reports, abnormal levels of neurotransmitters or neurotransmitter metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or plasma of patients have been interpreted as indicating abnormal brain functions, with examples including high or low plasma serotonin levels as markers for psychopathology and suicidality 28 , 38 , 39 . Hence, in this study, observations of these low plasma serotonin levels might be indicated as markers for psychopathology and suicidality.…”

Low plasma serotonin linked to higher nigral iron in Parkinson’s disease

“…An important observation in the current study was the absence of any serotonin-iron association in healthy controls, suggesting a PD-specific or disease-specific phenomenon. Interestingly, however, in the general population, major depression is associated with both lower plasma serotonin in older adults 46 and higher iron content in the putamen (reflected by QSM; the SN was not included as a region of interest) 47 . In the current study, the putamen of PD patients had the second strongest inverse correlation between plasma serotonin and iron content.…”