TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1998//
TI  - Peripheral serotonin measures in prepubertal psychiatric inpatients and normal children: associations with suicidal behavior and its risk factors
JO  - Biological psychiatry
A1  - Pfeffer, C. R.
A1  - McBride, P. A.
A1  - Anderson, G. M.
A1  - Kakuma, T.
A1  - Fensterheim, L.
A1  - Khait, V.
SP  - 568
EP  - 577
VL  - 44
IS  - 7
N2  - BACKGROUND: This study reports relationships between suicidal behavior and its risk factors in prepubertal children and whole blood and platelet serotonin-related measures. METHODS: Seventy-five prepubertal psychiatric inpatients including 23 (30.7%) nonsuicidal, 32 (42.7%) with suicidal ideation, and 20 (26.6%) with a suicide attempt were compared to 35 normal prepubertal controls with regard to platelet serotonin content, serotonin-amplified platelet aggregation, and whole blood tryptophan. RESULTS: Mean whole blood tryptophan content was significantly lower among inpatient children with a recent suicide attempt than among normal controls or inpatients with suicidal ideation (F = 3.94, df = 3.54, p < or = .01). Inpatient children with a mood disorder had significantly higher platelet serotonin content than inpatients without a mood disorder (F = 3.86, df = 2.80, p < or = .03). Racial/ethnic differences were also observed for inpatients and normal controls, with whites having significantly lower levels of platelet serotonin (expressed as ng/mL blood or ng/10(9) platelets) than blacks or Latinos. Blacks had significantly higher levels of whole blood tryptophan than other racial/ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that whole blood tryptophan and platelet serotonin content should be studied for their predictive validity as risk factors for suicidal behavior in youth while controlling for racial/ethnic differences.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0006-3223
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -