TITLE:
Plasma levels of catecholamine metabolites and serum levels of brain-derived neurotorophic factor in smokers with schizophrenia treated with varenicline: A pilot study
AUTHORS:
Wakako Umene-Nakano, Reiji Yoshimura, Hikaru Hori, Asuka Katsuki, Kenji Hayashi, Chiharu Yoshii, Atsuko Ikenouchi-Sugita, Kiyokazu Atake, Jun Nakamura
KEYWORDS:
Schizophrenia; BDNF; HVA; MHPG; Varenicline; Smoking Cessation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.2 No.4,
November
26,
2012
ABSTRACT: Objective: The present study sought to determine changes in plasma levels of catecholamine metabolites and serum levels of brain-derived neurotorophic factor (BDNF) among smokers with schizophrenia who were treated with varenicline. Methods: We compared plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) levels and serum BDNF levels across 4 groups, divided as follows: smokers with schizophrenia (S-Sc), nonsmokers with schizophrenia (NS-Sc), smokers who were otherwise healthy (S-HC) and nonsmokers who were otherwise healthy (NS-HC). In addition, we also examined plasma HVA and MHPG levels and serum BDNF levels prior to study initiation (T0) and 8 weeks after varenicline treatment (T8) in the S-Sc and S-HC groups. Results: Plasma HVA levels in the S-Sc group at T0 were significantly higher than in the NS-Sc, S-HC and NS-HC groups at the same time point (S-Sc at T0; 7.6 ± 1.6 ng/mL, NS-Sc; 4.8 ± 1.0 ng/mL, S-HC; 4.3 ± 0.9 ng/mL, NS-HC; 3.4 ± 1.4 ng/mL, p