Research Article A Preliminary Study on the Relationship between Platelet Serotonin Transporter Functionality, Depression, and Fatigue in Patients with Untreated Chronic Hepatitis C

Copyright © 2014 Leonora Franke et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective and Methods. Although the interaction between fatigue and depression in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection (HCV) has been recognized, the biological correlates of this observation have yet to be reported. We addressed this issue by examining serotonin transporter- (SERT-) driven [14C]-serotonin uptake rate (SUR) and serotonin content in platelets of 65 untreatedHCVpatients and 65 healthy control subjects (HCS). All patients completed report questionnaires for fatigue, depression, and general psychopathology. Structured interviews were conducted by a board-certified psychiatrist. Results. Whereas 36 of the patients experienced fatigue of moderate-to-severe intensity, only 16 reported symptoms of depression (BDI score> 10). Mea