title: Striatal dopamine D2 receptor density in neuroleptic-naive and in neuroleptic-free schizophrenic patients: an 123I-IBZM-SPECT study.
abstract: Most post-mortem autoradiographic studies have described striatal dopamine D(2) receptor up-regulation due to chronic neuroleptic exposure. The aim of our study was to compare in-vivo striatal D(2) receptor density in neuroleptic-naive and neuroleptic-free schizophrenic patients. We included 28 young (mean age: 28+/-8 years) acute psychotic patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder. Enrolled patients were either first-episode neuroleptic-naive (n=12) or neuroleptic-free (n=16) after a minimum washout period of 7 days. All neuroleptic-free subjects had previously received neuroleptic treatment for a median period of 3.5 years. Both groups were evaluated using standard clinical scales. In-vivo striatal D(2) receptor binding was assessed by basal ganglia/frontal cortex ratios using (123)I-IBZM SPECT. No statistically significant differences were found in age or clinical assessment between neuroleptic-naive and neuroleptic-free schizophrenic patients. No differences were found in the basal ganglia/frontal cortex ratios of neuroleptic-naive (1.78+/-0.11) and neuroleptic-free (1.81+/-0.15) patients. No striatal uptake laterality was observed in either group. No correlation was demonstrated between BG/FC ratios and duration of illness, period of neuroleptic exposure or time of drug washout. We conclude that our neuroleptic-naive and neuroleptic-free schizophrenic patients did not show differences in striatal D(2) receptor binding, suggesting that IBZM-SPECT fails to detect D(2) receptor up-regulation induced by chronic exposure to neuroleptic drugs.
authors: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hospital Clínic, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. flomena@medicina.ub.es
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Lomeña
authors: Ana M
authors: AM
authors: Catafau
authors: Eduard
authors: E
authors: Parellada
authors: Miquel
authors: M
authors: Bernardo
authors: Mireia
authors: M
authors: Font
authors: Fernando
authors: F
authors: Gutiérrez
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: Pavía
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001549:Benzamides / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000378:metabolism; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D001549:Benzamides; D011759:Pyrrolidines; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; C055743:3-iodo-2-hydroxy-6-methoxy-N-((1-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinyl)methyl)benzamide