Atomoxetine treatment may decrease striatal dopaminergic transporter availability after 8 weeks: Pilot SPECT report of three cases

Abstract

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. The pathophysiology is thought to involve noradrenaline and dopamine. The role of dopamine transporter (DAT) was evaluated in imaging studies using mostly dopamine reuptake inhibitors. Atomoxetine is a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor. Here we report the results of a pilot study conducted to evaluate changes in striatal DAT after 8 weeks of atomoxetine treatment. Our results suggest that 8 weeks of atomoxetine treatment may change striatal DAT bioavailability as measured via SPECT but that change was not correlated with genotype or clinical improvement.