title: Cigarette Smoking and Tryptophan Hydroxylase 2 mRNA in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus in Suicides.
abstract: Cigarette smoking is associated with suicide and mood disorders and stimulates serotonin release. Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH2) synthesizes serotonin and is over-expressed in suicides. We determined whether smoking is associated with TPH2 mRNA in suicides and controls. TPH2 mRNA was measured postmortem in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of controls (N = 26, 17 nonsmokers and nine smokers) and suicides (N = 23, 5 nonsmokers and 18 smokers). Psychiatric history was obtained by psychological autopsy. TPH2 mRNA was greater in suicide nonsmokers than suicide smokers, control smokers and control nonsmokers (p = 0.006). There was more TPH2 mRNA throughout the DRN. Smoking interferes with the TPH2 mRNA increase observed in suicide nonsmokers. The absence of altered TPH2 expression in non-suicide smokers suggests no pharmacological effect of smoking.
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bach
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arango
authors.forename: Suham A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kassir
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dwork
authors.forename: J John
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Underwood
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods; D000073865:Cigarette Smoking / Q000378:metabolism*; D065847:Dorsal Raphe Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005731:Ganglionic Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D059326:Serotonergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D012701:Serotonin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013405:Suicide; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005731:Ganglionic Stimulants; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012701:Serotonin; D009538:Nicotine; C494784:TPH2 protein, human; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase
keywords: human; in situ hybridization; postmortem; serotonin