PMID- 29056860 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20201001 IS - 1304-2580 (Print) IS - 1875-9041 (Electronic) IS - 1304-2580 (Linking) VI - 9 IP - 1 DP - 2011 Mar TI - Brain derived neurotrophic factor and serotonin transporter binding as markers of clinical response to fluoxetine therapy in children with autism. PG - 1-8 LID - 10.3233/JPN-2010-0446 [doi] AB - Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), has shown favorable effects in some children with autism. There are no previous studies evaluating the connection between clinical outcome and markers of clinical response to fluoxetine treatment. We examined serum brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentrations and serotonin transporter (SERT) binding in the medial frontal cortex and midbrain, measured by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanning, in a group of 13 autistic children and adolescents (12 males, one female; age 5-16 years), who were treated for six months with fluoxetine at a dose range of 10-40 mg/day. Clinical response was evaluated by the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC). Serum concentrations of BDNF and SERT binding were measured at baseline and two months after termination of fluoxetine treatment. At baseline, before starting fluoxetine treatment, the serum concentration of BDNF had a bimodal distribution in the autism group with either a low concentration (n = 8, mean 1497 pg/mL) or a high concentration (n = 5, mean 14062 pg/mL) with respect to controls (n = 15, mean 9652 pg/mL), and SERT binding was uniformly low in the autistic subjects in medial frontal cortex and midbrain. Fluoxetine treatment led to positive effects in several aspects of communication, socialization and cognitive awareness, with 6 out 13 subjects being particularly good responders. These six also had a significant decrease in BDNF (p = 0.03) and minimal change in SERT binding after therapy. The other 7 subjects showed a trend towards an increase in BDNF and SERT binding. Our results indicate that fluoxetine may improve core autistic symptoms, and that this clinical response is linked to a decrease in serum BDNF. FAU - Makkonen, Ismo AU - Makkonen I AD - Department of Pediatrics, Unit of Child Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; ismo.makkonen@kuh.fi. FAU - Riikonen, Raili AU - Riikonen R AD - Department of Pediatrics, Unit of Child Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; raili.riikonen@kolumbus.fi. FAU - Kuikka, Jyrki T AU - Kuikka JT AD - Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital, and Niuvanniemi Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; jyrki.kuikka@kuh.fi. FAU - Kokki, Hannu AU - Kokki H AD - Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; hannu.kokki@kuh.fi. FAU - Bressler, Joseph P AU - Bressler JP AD - Center for Genetic Disorders of Cognition & Behavior, Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America; bressler@kennedykrieger.org. FAU - Marshall, Cathleen AU - Marshall C AD - Center for Genetic Disorders of Cognition & Behavior, Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America; cathleen.marshall@gmail.com. FAU - Kaufmann, Walter E AU - Kaufmann WE AD - Center for Genetic Disorders of Cognition & Behavior, Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America; kaufmann@kennedykrieger.org. LA - eng GR - P01 HD024448/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article PL - Germany TA - J Pediatr Neurol JT - Journal of pediatric neurology : JPN JID - 101199896 PMC - PMC5650230 MID - NIHMS651067 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Autism OT - Brain derived neurotrophic factor OT - Clinical outcome OT - Fluoxetine OT - Serotonin transporter OT - Single photon emission computed tomography EDAT- 2011/03/01 00:00 MHDA- 2011/03/01 00:01 PMCR- 2017/10/20 CRDT- 2017/10/24 06:00 PHST- 2017/10/24 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2011/03/01 00:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2011/03/01 00:01 [medline] PHST- 2017/10/20 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.3233/JPN-2010-0446 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Pediatr Neurol. 2011 Mar;9(1):1-8. doi: 10.3233/JPN-2010-0446.