Changes in lymphocyte subsets after short-term pharmacotherapy in patients with panic disorder

Panic disorder is associated with a high frequency of comorbid immunological diseases, such as allergies and asthma, although the psychoneuroimmunology of panic disorder is relatively unexplored. The objective of this study was to determine whether panic patients have different immunological finding...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 2004-09, Vol.128 (2), p.183-190
Main Authors: Kim, Youl-Ri, Park, Quehn, Yu, Bum-Hee
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
B lymphocytes
B-Lymphocyte Subsets - drug effects
B-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology
Biological and medical sciences
Drug Administration Schedule
Drug therapy
Epinephrine - blood
Female
Flow Cytometry
Humans
Immunity
Immunophenotyping
Lymphocyte Count
Male
Medical sciences
Neuropharmacology
Norepinephrine - blood
Panic disorder
Panic Disorder - drug therapy
Panic Disorder - immunology
Paroxetine - therapeutic use
Personality Inventory
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Psycholeptics: tranquillizer, neuroleptic
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
Reference Values
Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - therapeutic use
T lymphocytes
T-Lymphocyte Subsets - drug effects
T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Panic disorder is associated with a high frequency of comorbid immunological diseases, such as allergies and asthma, although the psychoneuroimmunology of panic disorder is relatively unexplored. The objective of this study was to determine whether panic patients have different immunological findings compared with normal healthy subjects and whether changes in immune function are associated with short-term pharmacotherapy. We also examined whether immunological variables were associated with clinical severity and serum catecholamine levels. Patients with panic disorder ( n=26) and healthy control subjects ( n=26) were recruited for this study. All patients were treated with paroxetine for 3 months. We measured the lymphocyte subsets, psychopathological characteristics and serum catecholamine (norepinephrine and epinephrine) levels. Panic patients did not differ initially from control subjects in peripheral lymphocyte phenotypic markers. After drug therapy, however, percentages of circulating CD3 +, CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes were significantly increased, while the percentage of CD19 + B lymphocytes was significantly decreased in the patients. The difference in the percentage of CD8 + T lymphocytes before and after treatment was negatively correlated with pretreatment Global Clinical Impression scores. The lymphocyte subsets were not significantly associated with serum catecholamine levels in panic patients. In conclusion, panic patients showed increased CD3 +, CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocyte proportions and a decreased B lymphocyte proportion after 3 months of drug therapy. This finding suggests that pharmacological treatment may affect immune function in panic patients.
ISSN:0165-1781
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2004.05.015