Marazziti Donatella, Baroni Stefano, Giannaccini Gino, Piccinni Armando, Mucci Federico, Catena-Dell'Osso Mario, Rutigliano Grazia, Massimetti Gabriele, Dell'Osso Liliana
1Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale,Section of Psychiatry,University of Pisa,Pisa,Italy.
2Dipartimento di Farmacia,University of Pisa,Pisa,Italy.
CNS Spectr. 2017 Jun;22(3):290-294. doi: 10.1017/S109285291600050X. Epub 2016 Dec 29.
The role of dopamine (DA) in romantic love is suggested by different evidence and is supported by the findings of some brain imaging studies. The DA transporter (DAT) is a key structure in regulating the concentration of the neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft. Given the presence of DAT in blood cells, the present study aimed to explore it in resting lymphocytes of 30 healthy subjects of both sexes in the early stage of romantic love (no longer than 6 months), as compared with 30 subjects involved in a long-lasting relationship.
All subjects had no physical or psychiatric illness. The DAT was measured by means of the [3H]-WIN 35,428 binding and the [3H]-DA reuptake to resting lymphocytes membranes. Romantic love was assessed by a specific questionnaire developed by us.
The results showed that the subjects in the early phase of romantic love had a global alteration of the lymphocyte DAT involving both a decreased number of proteins (Bmax) and a reduced functionality (Vmax).
Taken together, these findings would indicate the presence of increased levels of DA in romantic love that, if paralleled by similar concentrations in the brain, would explain some peculiar features of this human feeling.
不同证据表明多巴胺（DA）在浪漫爱情中发挥作用，一些脑成像研究结果也支持这一点。多巴胺转运体（DAT）是调节突触间隙神经递质浓度的关键结构。鉴于血细胞中存在DAT，本研究旨在对30名处于浪漫爱情初期（不超过6个月）的健康男女静息淋巴细胞中的DAT进行研究，并与30名处于长期恋爱关系中的受试者进行比较。
所有受试者均无身体或精神疾病。通过[3H]-WIN 35,428结合法和[3H]-DA对静息淋巴细胞膜的再摄取来测量DAT。浪漫爱情通过我们编制的特定问卷进行评估。
结果显示，处于浪漫爱情初期的受试者淋巴细胞DAT整体发生改变，包括蛋白质数量减少（Bmax）和功能降低（Vmax）。
综合来看，这些发现表明浪漫爱情中DA水平升高，如果大脑中DA浓度也类似升高，将解释这种人类情感的一些独特特征。
