Autoradiographic demonstration of increased serotonin 5-HT2 and beta-adrenergic receptor binding sites in the brain of suicide victims.
Suicidal behavior has been linked to a deficiency in serotonin neurotransmission, but it is not known which brain regions are involved. We determined the pattern of alteration in serotonin 5-HT2 (5-HT2) receptor binding sites in suicide victims in prefrontal cortex compared with temporal cortex using a matched-pairs design to study 11 suicide victims and 11 matched controls, by both membrane binding and quantitative receptor autoradiography. Since a relationship between the serotonergic and noradrenergic systems has been proposed, we also examined beta-adrenergic receptor binding sites. Binding to 5-HT2 and beta-adrenergic sites in slide-mounted sections correlated strongly with binding site number in membrane preparations. A specific laminar distribution of 5-HT2 binding sites was found in both the control and suicide groups, whereas beta-adrenergic binding sites did not differ across cortical layers. A significant increase was found in suicide victims across all cortical layers in both receptor subpopulations in the prefrontal cortex, but only beta-adrenergic sites were increased in the temporal cortex. We conclude that suicide is associated with a localized increase in 5-HT2 binding sites.
Arango
V
V
Department of Psychiatry, University Medical College, Cornell New York, NY.
Ernsberger
P
P
Marzuk
P M
PM
Chen
J S
JS
Tierney
H
H
Stanley
M
M
Reis
D J
DJ
Mann
J J
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001345:Autoradiography; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013405:Suicide; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015854:Up-Regulation
D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin