%0 Journal Article
%A Araos, Pedro
%A Vidal, Rebeca
%A O'Shea, Esther
%A Pedraz, María
%A García-Marchena, Nuria
%A Serrano, Antonia
%A Suárez, Juan
%A Castilla-Ortega, Estela
%A Ruiz, Juan Jesús
%A Campos-Cloute, Rafael
%A Santín, Luis J
%A Rodríguez de Fonseca, Fernando
%A Pavón, Francisco Javier
%A Colado, María Isabel
%T Serotonin is the main tryptophan metabolite associated with psychiatric comorbidity in abstinent cocaine-addicted patients.
%D 2019
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14691
%X The lack of effective treatments and a high rate of relapse in cocaine addiction constitute a major health problem. The present study was conducted to examine the expression of tryptophan-derived metabolites in the context of cocaine addiction and psychiatric comorbidity, which is common in addicted subjects. Abstinent patients with cocaine use disorder (CUD) and control subjects were recruited for a cross-sectional study. Participants were assessed with a semi-structured diagnostic interview (PRISM) based on DSM-IV-TR for substance and mental disorders. Plasma concentrations of tryptophan metabolites and their association with relevant CUD-related variables and psychiatric comorbidity were explored. We observed decreased plasma kynurenic acid concentrations in the cocaine group, however no associations between CUD-related variables and tryptophan-derived metabolites were found. In contrast, 5-HT concentrations were increased in CUD-patients and the diagnosis of different psychiatric disorders in the cocaine group was related to higher plasma 5-HT concentrations compared with non-comorbid patients. Therefore, while changes in plasma kynurenic acid concentrations appear to be directly associated with lifetime CUD, changes in 5-HT concentrations are associated with psychiatric comorbidity. These results emphasize the need to find potential biomarkers for a better stratification of cocaine-addicted patients in order to develop therapeutic approaches to prevent cocaine relapse.
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