title: Focus on GABA(A) receptor function. A comparative analysis of in vivo imaging studies in neuropsychiatric disorders.
abstract: Impairment of GABA(A) receptor function is increasingly recognized to play a major role in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric diseases including anxiety disorder (AD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia (SZ).
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a PUBMED search, which provided a total of 23 in vivo investigations with PET and SPECT, in which GABA(A) receptor binding in patients with the primary diagnosis of AD (n = 14, 160 patients, 172 controls), MDD (n = 2, 24 patients, 28 controls) or SZ (n = 6, 77 patients, 90 controls) was compared to healthy individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A retrospective analysis revealed that AD, MDD and SZ differed as to both site(s) and extent(s) of GABAergic impairment. Additionally, it may be stated that, while the decline of GABA(A) receptor binding AD involved the whole mesolimbocortical system, in SZ it was confined to the frontal and temporal cortex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As GABA is known to inhibit dopamine and serotonin, GABAergic dysfunction may be associated with the disturbances of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in neuropsychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: Prof. Susanne Nikolaus, Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Heinrich-Heine University, Moorenstr. 5 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany, Tel. +49/(0)211/811 70 48, Fax +49/(0)211/811 70 41, E-mail: susanne.nikolaus@uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikolaus
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hautzel
authors.forename: H-W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A
keywords: Anxiety disorder; GABAA receptor; PET; SPECT; major depressive disorder; schizophrenia