title: Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area: an autopsy case of disorganized type of schizophrenia.
abstract: The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system has been associated with the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Here, we examined DA-containing neuronal structures of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of an autopsy case of disorganized type of schizophrenia (75-year-old female), using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry. A free floating method using 50-μm cryostat sections and three-dimensional imaging analyzer AxioVision were applied to observe the wide range structures of TH-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons. TH-ir neuronal cell bodies in the VTA of the present case had irregular shape and various size, and TH-ir neuronal processes had irregular thickness and straightened shape or curved shape having many corners, when compared to a control autopsy case with no detectable neurological and psychiatric diseases (64-year-old male). The mechanisms underlying the morphological characteristics of DA neurons of the brains with schizophrenia should be elucidated epigenetically as well as genetically.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikemoto
authors.forename: Tatsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Akiyoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Katsuji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishi