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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Experimental Pharmacology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Donatella Marazziti
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Abstract

There is evidence supporting the presence of abnormalities in certain neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and noradrenaline, and in neuropeptides and other mechanisms, such as the immune system in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the findings implicating serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) in the pathophysiology of OCD are increasing at a rate not found in any other psychiatric disorder. These abundant findings foster numerous complex questions that await answers. For example, which 5-HT receptor subtypes or other subcomponents of the 5-HT system are principally involved in OCD pathophysiology, and how do they interact with dysfunctions of other systems? In the search for answers to these critical questions, experimental pharmacology represents a key tool for approaching the complexity of the involvement of 5-HT in OCD, and also suggests new potential therapeutic targets. This article summarizes, in part, the presentations and the discussion of the symposium, “Experimental Pharmacology in OCD,” which was held during the Third International OCD Conference meeting in Madeira, Portugal, in September 1998.

Information

Type
Academic Supplement Monograph
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 4 , supplement S3: The Third International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Conference , May 1999 , pp. 41 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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