Seasonal Effects on Platelet 5-HT Content in Patients With OCD and Controls

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Abstract
Flament et al1reported no significant differences in platelet serotonin (5-HT) content between 25 children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 22 age- and sex-matched controls. Independent of this work, significant seasonal variations have been reported for several parameters of 5-HT function in humans,2-5including platelet 5-HT content.6-8We therefore reanalyzed the original platelet 5-HT data of Flament et al, using season and diagnosis as grouping variables. The subjects and methods of this study have been previously described in detail.1As seen in theFigure, there was a significant seasonal difference in platelet 5-HT concentration in the normal controls (analysis of variance,P≤.0002), but not in the patients with OCD or the total group. Post hoc differences persisted between summer and winter, and between summer and spring, in the controls (P≤.05, Bonferronittest). These seasonal differences were significant in the male controls, but not