Biomedical subjects

M Barbaccia

Publications and source records attributed to M Barbaccia.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

CSF diazepam-binding inhibitor in alcoholics and normal controls.

Diazepam-binding-inhibitor (DBI) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are colocalized in neurons in the brain. This system has been implicated in anxiety and in the regulation of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) secretion. Alcohol has direct and indirect effects on the functioning of GABAA receptors. Abstinent alcoholics are, on the average, more anxious than controls. In tests of animal behavior, DBI has anxiogenic, and alcohol has anxiolytic potency. Therefore, we compared alcoholic patients and healthy controls for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of DBI, and looked for a correlation between CSF levels of DBI and CRH. There was no significant difference in CSF concentrations of DBI between the two groups and no significant correlation between CSF DBI and our measure of anxiety. However, there was a significant positive correlation between CSF levels of DBI and CRH in both the alcoholic and control groups.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Diazepam-binding inhibitor and corticotropin-releasing hormone in cerebrospinal fluid.

Diazepam-binding inhibitor (DBI) is a neuromodulatory peptide for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of DBI have been found to be elevated in depression. CSF levels of the peptide corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) have also been found to be elevated in depression. Therefore, we examined for a relationship between DBI and CRH in human CSF. We found significant positive correlations between CSF levels of DBI and CRH in depressed patients, pathological gamblers, and normal controls. These data, along with the elevated CSF levels of DBI in depression, suggest the possibility that DBI may have a role in coordinating responses to stress in humans in addition to its possible role in the pathophysiology of depression.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Pathological gambling. A psychobiological study.

We investigated psychobiological substrates of pathological gambling by measuring levels of norepinephrine, monoamine metabolites, and peptides in cerebrospinal fluid, plasma, and urine. Pathological gamblers had a significantly higher centrally produced fraction of cerebrospinal fluid levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol as well as significantly greater urinary outputs of norepinephrine than controls. These results suggest that pathological gamblers may have a functional disturbance of the noradrenergic system. This system has been postulated to underlie sensation-seeking behaviors, aspects of which are thought to be abnormal among pathological gamblers.

Adult↗