Cholecystokinin in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid—A study in healthy young women

Abstract Cholecystokinin (CCK) is widely distributed in the brain and is known to affect behavioral and physiological functions including anxiety and pain. The expression of CCK has been shown to be regulated by estrogen and to vary during the estrous cycle in rat brain. In the present study CCK was determined in plasma from 25 healthy women (age 25.0 ± 3.5) during the menstrual cycle, in the late luteal phase and in the follicular phase. In the follicular phase, a lumbar puncture was performed at the same time that a plasma sample was taken in 15 subjects. The participants had fasted and were nicotine-free for at least 8 h preceding the sampling. We compared CCK-like immunoreactivity (CCK-LI) in plasma from 25 subjects in the late luteal phase (LLP) and the follicular phase (FP) and found that there was no difference during the menstrual cycle ( n  = 25, R 2  = 89.60%, p  = n.s.). In the follicular phase no significant difference was found between CCK-LI in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected at the same time ( n  = 15, R 2  = 55.32%, p  = n.s.).