SynthesisJournal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism2014
Meta-analysis of molecular imaging of serotonin transporters in major depression.
Synthesis in Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 223 citations in OpenAlex.
- A working model linking the psychopathology and pathophysiology of major depressive disorder - an umbrella review of neuroimaging studies and a conceptual framework.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- EANM perspective on clinical PET and SPECT imaging in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: a systematic review of longitudinal studies.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025Pooled it
- The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of molecular imaging of translocator protein in major depression.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Changes in RNA expression levels during antidepressant treatment: a systematic review.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2021Pooled it
- Imaging of dopamine transporters in Parkinson disease: a meta-analysis ofAnnals of clinical and translational neurology · 2020Pooled it
- Reduced serotonin receptors and transporters in normal aging adults: a meta-analysis of PET and SPECT imaging studies.Neurobiology of aging · 2019Pooled it
- Imaging genetics paradigms in depression research: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- Striatal dopaminergic alterations in Tourette's syndrome: a meta-analysis based on 16 PET and SPECT neuroimaging studies.Translational psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- Detecting Neuroimaging Biomarkers for Depression: A Meta-analysis of Multivariate Pattern Recognition Studies.Biological psychiatry · 2017Pooled it
- Serotonin-1A receptor alterations in depression: a meta-analysis of molecular imaging studies.BMC psychiatry · 2016Pooled it
- Serotonin Transporter Gene 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism as a Protective Factor Against the Progression of Post-Stroke Depression.Molecular neurobiology · 2016Pooled it
- Decreased Pretreatment Amygdalae Serotonin Transporter Binding in Unipolar Depression Remitters: A Prospective PET Study.Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine · 2018Trial
- Dietary Tryptophan Allocation in Depression: Serotonin-Kynurenine Balance, Microbial Indole Pathways, and Inflammatory Phenotypes.Nutrients · 2026Review
- The serotonin transporter and the serotonin 1B receptor in relation to social cognition in healthy adults.EJNMMI research · 2026Article
- Trajectories of late-life depression: insights from molecular imaging.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Mechanistic intersections between migraine and major depressive disorder.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Interaction of the Vagus Nerve and Serotonin in the Gut-Brain Axis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Associations of serotonin-related brain morphology in early adolescence with behavioral and emotional problems.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2025Article
- Modulation of serotonin transporter expression by escitalopram under inflammation.Communications biology · 2024Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The success of serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitors has lent support to the monoamine theory of major depressive disorder (MDD). This issue has been addressed in a number of molecular imaging studies by positron emission tomography or single-photon emission computed tomography of serotonin reuptake sites (5-HTT) in the brain of patients with MDD, with strikingly disparate conclusions. Our meta-analysis of the 18 such studies, totaling 364 MDD patients free from significant comorbidities or medication and 372 control subjects, revealed reductions in midbrain 5-HTT (Hedges' g=-0.49; 95% CI: (-0.84, -0.14)) and amygdala (Hedges' g=-0.50; 95% CI: (-0.78, -0.22)), which no individual study possessed sufficient power to detect. Only small effect sizes were found in other regions with high binding (thalamus: g=-0.24, striatum: g=-0.32, and brainstem g=-0.22), and no difference in the frontal or cingulate cortex. Age emerged as an important moderator of 5-HTT availability in MDD, with more severe reductions in striatal 5-HTT evident with greater age of the study populations (P<0.01). There was a strong relationship between severity of depression and 5-HTT reductions in the amygdala (P=0.01). Thus, molecular imaging findings indeed reveal widespread reductions of ∼10% in 5-HTT availability in MDD, which may predict altered spatial-temporal dynamics of serotonergic neurotransmission.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.