Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 39, Issue 9, 1 May 1996, Pages 776-783
Biological Psychiatry

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid corticotropin-releasing ractor in Tourette's syndrome: Comparison to obsessive compulsive disorder and normal controls

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Stress- and anxiety-related fluctuations in tic severity are cardinal features of Tourette's syndrome (TS), and there is evidence for involvement of noradrenergic mechanisms in the pathophysiology and treatment of the disorder. To examine further the pathobiology of this enhanced vulnerability to stress and anxiety, we measured central activity of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in patients with TS and the related condition, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD ). Lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was obtained in a standardized fashion for measurement of CRF from 21 medication-free outpatients with TS, 20 with OCD, and 29 healthy controls. The TS patients had significantly higher levels of CSF CRF than both the normal controls and the OCD patients. However, there was no difference in CSF CRF between the OCD patients and the normal controls. Group differences in CSF CRF were unrelated to current clinical ratings of depression, anxiety, tics, and obsessive compulsive behaviors. Although the functional significance of this finding remains to be elucidated, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that stress-related neurobiological mechanisms may play a role in the pathobiology of TS.

Key Words

CRF
Tourette syndrome
obsessive compulsive disorder
stress
norepinephrine
cerebrospinal fluid

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Presented at the 32th annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 12–17, 1993.

This work was supported in pan by NIMH grants MH44843, MH49351, MH00508, NS16648, HD03008, RR00125 & RR06022 (General Clinical Research Centers), MH30929 (Mental Health Clinical Research Center), and the Tourette Syndrome Association.