Striatal dopaminergic terminals in type 1 and type 2 alcoholics measured with [3H]dihydrotetrabenazine and human whole hemisphere autoradiography.
A number of studies have pointed to the importance of dopamine system in the context of alcoholism. Previous studies have shown lower dopamine transporter levels on late-onset Cloninger type 1 alcoholics. However, whether this lower level is due to a lower level of dopamine transporter protein or a lower level of dopaminergic nerve terminals remains unclear. The aim of this study was to compare putative alterations of dopaminergic terminals in caudate, putamen and nucleus accumbens of type 1 and type 2 alcoholics and healthy controls by using [(3)H]dihydrotetrabenazine as a radioligand in postmortem human whole hemisphere autoradiography. We compared the present results with the findings of our earlier studies on the dopamine transporter in these same subjects, demonstrating that alcoholics do not differ significantly from controls in striatal [(3)H]dihydrotetrabenazine binding. Although type 1 alcoholics have been reported to have up to 36% lower striatal dopamine transporter levels than controls, the results suggest that the density of their dopaminergic nerve terminals is not altered.
Tupala
Erkki
E
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Kuopio, Niuvanniemi Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
Häkkinen
Merja
M
Storvik
Markus
M
Tiihonen
Jari
J
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000473:pathology*; D001345:Autoradiography; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000473:pathology; D011699:Putamen / Q000473:pathology; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000032:analysis*; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D013747:Tetrabenazine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D014316:Tritium; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins / Q000032:analysis
D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins; D014316:Tritium; C032811:dihydrotetrabenazine; D013747:Tetrabenazine