A less active brain serotonin system is associated with early hardening of the arteries, according to a study presented by University of Pittsburgh researchers at the 64th Annual Scientific Conference of the American Psychosomatic Society in Denver.
These findings, which are the first to establish a link between serotonin messages in the brain and atherosclerosis, could lead to an entirely new strategy for preventing heart disease and stroke, say the researchers.
"Many of the known risk factors for heart disease and stroke - high blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, smoking and lack of exercise - can, to some extent, be controlled by our lifestyle choices," said Matthew F. Muldoon, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Until now, no one had studied the possibility that brain abnormalities could explain why some people make these poor lifestyle choices and have multiple risk factors for heart disease."
In the study, which included 244 adult volunteers between the ages of 30 and 55 years, researchers measured serotonergic activity using a pharmacological approach and carotid artery thickness using ultrasonography. At the time of testing, participants were free of clinically evident vascular disease. Yet, those with low levels of serotonergic function were more likely to have thickening of the carotid artery than those with higher levels.