Women's Mood-Control System May Differ from Men's

[Guest guest]

[vitalchoice.com]

 

Women's Mood-Control System May Differ from Men's

Swedish team finds differences in brain systems for handling the " good

mood " chemical (serotonin) targeted by anti-depressant drugs

by Craig Weatherby

-------------

Women are significantly more likely to suffer from depression and

anxiety, compared with men.

But very few studies focus on gender differences in the brain's

mood-regulating system.

While some of the same factors contribute to depression in both sexes,

women are subject to unique biological, life-cycle, hormonal and

psycho-social influences.

The cyclical rise and fall of estrogen and other hormones may affect the

brain chemistry associated with depression and anxiety.

This may be why some women are at increased risk for depression and/or

anxiety during the transition into menopause, while others suffer a

severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) called premenstrual dysphoric

disorder (PMDD).

Now, researchers from Sweden's respected Karolinska Institute report

that they may have discovered one reason why rates of depression and

chronic anxiety differ between men and women.

Their findings reveal distinctions in each gender's brains, related to

regulation of serotonin, which is the neurotransmitter associated with

maintenance of good mood.

Prozac-type anti-depressant drugs - called " selective serotonin reuptake

inhibitors " (SSRIs) - work by reducing the rate at which serotonin is

re-absorbed by the neurons (brain cells) that secrete it, thereby

leaving more serotonin available.

Swedes find sex-based difference in serotonin regulation

Hristina Jovanovic

Doctoral candidate Hristina Jovanovic and her colleagues at Stockholm's

Karolinska Institute used a PET scanner to examine the brains of women

and men.

Their results reveal that women have more of the most common serotonin

receptors than men, and possess more serotonin receptors in the brain's

hippocampus region (Jovanovic H et al. 2008).

As well as being vital to memory formation, the hippocampus is part of

the brain's " limbic system " , which is associated with primitive

emotional states.

The hippocampus actually shrinks in people with severe depressions, or

who suffer from excess stress. (This hippocampal shrinkage can be

reversed and perhaps prevented in people with depression and bipolar

disorder, with effective treatment.)

Interestingly, the hippocampus is also rich in estrogen and progesterone

receptors, so the unusually high number of serotonin receptors in a

woman's hippocampus could be connected to the need to deal with

hormone-related mood fluctuations. Clearly, we need to know more about

this part of the brain.

They also found that women have lower levels of the protein that

transports serotonin back into the nerve cells that secrete it: the very

same protein (5-HTT) that the most common SSRI-type antidepressants are

designed to block.

According to team leader Anna-Lena Nordstrom, M.D., Ph.D., " We don't

know exactly what this means, but the results can help us understand why

the occurrence of depression differs between the sexes and why men and

women sometimes respond differently to treatment with antidepressant

drugs. " (Karolinska Institute

2008)

Serotonin system may differ in women with severe PMS The Karolinska

group also found differences between the serotonin system in healthy

women, compared with women who suffer from serious premenstrual mental

symptoms (Jovanovic H 2008; Jovanovic H et al. 2006).

These findings indicate that the serotonin system in women who suffer

from severe PMS may not respond as flexibly to the hormone swings of the

menstrual cycle.

As professor Nordstrom said, " These findings indicate that when

developing antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, scientists should

evaluate their effect on men and women separately, as well as their

effects before and after menopause. " (Karolinska Institute 2008)

No doubt, every woman will second that emotional health motion.

Omega-3s and serotonin: possible connections Harvard University

psychiatrist Andrew Stoll, M.D., says that omega-3s keep cell membranes

more fluid, making it easier for receptors to respond to

neurotransmitters like serotonin (Foreman J 2005).

And studies led by NIH clinical researcher Joseph Hibbeln, M.D., suggest

that omega-3s may play a role in regulating serotonin levels.

His team found that low levels of omega-3s in cell membranes were

associated with low levels of serotonin in people with aggression and

impulse-control problems (Hibbeln JR et al. 1998).

Prozac-type drugs rest on shaky evidence Prozac and other SSRI-type

drugs are the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants, and rank among

the most widely prescribed drugs in America and Europe.

And as we reported recently, the clinical research foundation upon which

their approval rests is seriously flawed.

The authors of an evidence review found that some 94 percent of clinical

trials with positive outcomes (i.e., effects superior to placebo pills)

were published, while only 14 percent of trials with negative or unclear

results appeared in any public form.

And the FDA's own study reviewers found that the results of many of the

" positive " studies were not as good as their authors claimed. (See

" Major Heart and Mood Drugs Take Huge Credibility Hits [

http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article000995910.cfm?x=bbVV2P3,b7b1jv7h,w

" .)

Sources

- Foreman J. Eat fish, be happy. March 8, 2005. Accessed online February

1, 2008 at

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C239241%2Cb1kJkvww%\

2C2084100%2Cbc8MG7D

- Hibbeln JR, Ferguson TA, Blasbalg TL. Omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies

in neurodevelopment, aggression and autonomic dysregulation:

opportunities for intervention. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2006

Apr;18(2):107-18. Review.

- Hibbeln JR, Linnoila M, Umhau JC, Rawlings R, George DT, Salem N Jr.

Essential fatty acids predict metabolites of serotonin and dopamine in

cerebrospinal fluid among healthy control subjects, and early- and

late-onset alcoholics. Biol Psychiatry. 1998 Aug 15;44(4):235-42.

- Hibbeln JR, Umhau JC, Linnoila M, George DT, Ragan PW, Shoaf SE,

Vaughan MR, Rawlings R, Salem N Jr. A replication study of violent and

nonviolent subjects: cerebrospinal fluid metabolites of serotonin and

dopamine are predicted by plasma essential fatty acids. Biol Psychiatry.

1998 Aug 15;44(4):243-9.

- Jovanovic H, Cerin A, Karlsson P, Lundberg J, Halldin C, Nordstrom AL.

A PET study of 5-HT1A receptors at different phases of the menstrual

cycle in women with premenstrual dysphoria. Psychiatry Res. 2006 Dec

1;148(2-3):185-93. Epub 2006 Nov 7.

- Jovanovic H, Lundberg J, Karlsson P, Cerin A, Saijo T, Varrone A,

Halldin C, Nordstrom AL. Sex differences in the serotonin 1A receptor

and serotonin transporter binding in the human brain measured by PET.

Neuroimage. 2008 Feb 1;39(3):1408-19. Epub 2007 Oct 25.

- Jovanovic H. PET evaluation of central serotonergic neurotransmission

in women. Accessed online February 13, 2008 at

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C239241%2Cb1kJkvww%\

2C2109120%2Cbc8MG7D

- Karolinska Institute. Sex differences in the brain's serotonin system.

Accessed online February 13, 2008 at

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C239241%2Cb1kJkvww%\

2C2109121%2Cbc8MG7D