title: Postmortem mu-opioid receptor binding in suicide victims and controls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endogenous opiates may reinforce self-injurious behavior in animal and human subjects. Higher postmortem mu-opioid receptor binding is reported in some brain regions in young compared with older suicide victims. The present study compared opioid receptor binding kinetics in postmortem brains of young suicide victims and matched controls in two brain areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  The density (Bmax) and affinity (K(D)) of the mu-opioid receptors were assayed postmortem using [3H] DAGO in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and pre-post central gyri (PPCG) in 9 suicide victims and 10 controls, matched for age and gender ratio.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Binding indices did not differ between suicide victims and controls in either brain area and did not correlate with age. PFC Bmax was higher than PPCG Bmax (F=8.030; df=1,16; p=.012) for the combined sample. There was no brain region difference in K(D) between PFC and PPCG, but the interaction between K(D) and group was significant (F = 5.890; df = 1,16; p = .027). The K(D) in the suicide victims was lower than controls in the PFC and higher than controls in the PPCG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated more mu-opioid receptors in PFC compared with PPCG binding regardless of suicide status. The region-dependent differences in binding affinity in suicide victims may reflect regionally different opiate transmission.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zalsman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Molcho
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dwork
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009294:Narcotics / Q000378:metabolism; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu / Q000378:metabolism*; D013405:Suicide
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu