Platelet 3H-paroxetine binding in depressed patients.

Studies using 3H-imipramine binding in platelets as a means of exploring the serotonin transport system in depressed patients have produced inconsistent findings. For this reason, we studied 3H-paroxetine binding in platelets, because we believed it might provide a more reliable ligand for studying serotonin transport. Subjects were 23 depressive inpatients and 23 normal controls. No differences in the maximal number of binding sites (Bmax) or in the dissociation constant (Kd) were found between depressives and controls.