BACKGROUND The hypothesis that dopamine plays an important role in the pathophysiology of pathological gambling is pervasive. However, there is little to no direct evidence for a categorical difference between pathological gamblers and healthy control subjects in terms of dopamine transmission in a drug-free state. Here we provide evidence for this hypothesis by comparing dopamine synthesis capacity in the dorsal and ventral parts of the striatum in 13 pathological gamblers and 15 healthy control subjects. METHODS This was achieved using [18F]fluoro-levo-dihydroxyphenylalanine dynamic positron emission tomography scans and striatal regions of interest that were hand-drawn based on visual inspection of individual structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. RESULTS Our results show that dopamine synthesis capacity was increased in pathological gamblers compared with healthy control subjects. Dopamine synthesis was 16% higher in the caudate body, 17% higher in the dorsal putamen, and 17% higher in the ventral striatum in pathological gamblers compared with control subjects. Moreover, dopamine synthesis capacity in the dorsal putamen and caudate head was positively correlated with gambling distortions in pathological gamblers. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, these results provide empirical evidence for increased striatal dopamine synthesis in pathological gambling.

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赌博成瘾中纹状体多巴胺合成能力增加

背景 多巴胺在病理性赌博的病理生理学中起重要作用的假设是普遍存在的。然而，就无毒状态下的多巴胺传输而言，几乎没有直接证据表明病态赌徒和健康对照受试者之间存在绝对差异。在这里，我们通过比较 13 名病理性赌徒和 15 名健康对照受试者纹状体背侧和腹侧部分的多巴胺合成能力，为这一假设提供了证据。方法 这是使用 [ 18 F ] 氟-左-二羟基苯丙氨酸动态正电子发射断层扫描和基于个体结构磁共振成像扫描的目视检查手绘的感兴趣纹状体区域来实现的。结果 我们的结果表明，与健康对照受试者相比，病态赌徒的多巴胺合成能力有所增加。与对照组相比，病理性赌徒的尾状体多巴胺合成量高 16%，背壳核高 17%，腹侧纹状体高 17%。此外，背壳核和尾状核的多巴胺合成能力与病态赌徒的赌博扭曲呈正相关。结论 综上所述，这些结果为病理性赌博中纹状体多巴胺合成增加提供了经验证据。背壳核和尾状核的多巴胺合成能力与病理性赌徒的赌博扭曲呈正相关。结论 综上所述，这些结果为病理性赌博中纹状体多巴胺合成增加提供了经验证据。背壳核和尾状核的多巴胺合成能力与病理性赌徒的赌博扭曲呈正相关。结论 综上所述，这些结果为病理性赌博中纹状体多巴胺合成增加提供了经验证据。