Department of Psychology, University of Bern, 3000 Bern, Switzerland.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Dec;23(12):1708-13. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.08.006. Epub 2013 Sep 8.
The γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system has been proposed as a target for novel antidepressant and anxiolytic treatments. Emerging evidence suggests that gabapentin (GBP), an anticonvulsant drug that significantly increases brain GABA levels, is effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders. The current study was designed to measure prefrontal and occipital GABA levels in medication-free healthy subjects after taking 0mg, 150mg and 300mg GBP. Subjects were scanned on a 3T scanner using a transmit-receive head coil that provided a relatively homogenous radiofrequency field to obtain spectroscopy measurement in the medial prefrontal (MPFC) and occipital cortex (OCC). There was no dose-dependent effect of GBP on GABA levels in the OCC or MPFC. There was also no effect on Glx, choline or N-acetyl-aspartate concentrations. The previously reported finding of increased GABA levels after GBP treatment is not evident for healthy subjects at the dose of 150 and 300mg. As a result, if subjects are scanned on a 3T scanner, low dose GPB is not useful as an experimental challenge agent on the GABA system.
γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）系统被认为是新型抗抑郁药和抗焦虑药物的治疗靶点。新出现的证据表明，加巴喷丁（GBP）是一种抗惊厥药物，可显著增加大脑 GABA 水平，对治疗焦虑症有效。本研究旨在测量服用 0mg、150mg 和 300mg GBP 后，未服用药物的健康受试者的前额叶和枕叶 GABA 水平。受试者在 3T 扫描仪上使用发射-接收头部线圈进行扫描，该线圈提供相对均匀的射频场，以在中前额叶（MPFC）和枕叶皮层（OCC）获得光谱测量。GBP 对 OCC 或 MPFC 中的 GABA 水平没有剂量依赖性影响。也没有对 Glx、胆碱或 N-乙酰天冬氨酸浓度产生影响。先前报道的 GBP 治疗后 GABA 水平升高的发现，对于 150 和 300mg 剂量的健康受试者并不明显。因此，如果在 3T 扫描仪上对受试者进行扫描，低剂量 GBP 作为 GABA 系统的实验挑战剂并不有用。
