Publications (3)0 Total impact
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ABSTRACT: Binding sites for γ-aminobutyric acid, type B (GABAB), were measured in post-mortem brain samples (frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and hippocampus) from a group of suicide victims and a group of sex- and age-matched controls. Retrospective psychiatric diagnosis was performed, and only suicide victims with clear evidence of depression in the absence of symptoms of other psychiatric or neurological disorders were studied. There were no significant differences between depressed suicides and controls in the number or affinity of GABAB binding sites in the frontal or temporal cortex and no difference in GABAB binding (measured at two concentrations) in the hippocampus. Thirteen of the depressed suicides had not been prescribed antidepressant drugs recently, and none were found in their blood at post-mortem. The number of GABAB binding sites in the frontal and temporal cortex and GABAB binding in the hippocampus did not differ significantly between these drug-free suicides and matched controls. The Kd was higher, however, in the temporal cortex of the drug-free suicides than in the controls. A significant negative correlation was found between age and the number of GABAB binding sites in the temporal cortex (on the basis of pooled data from suicides and controls). These results indicate that GABAB binding sites are unaltered in the brains of depressed suicide victims.
Psychiatry Research.
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ABSTRACT: 5-HT2 receptor binding sites were measured (by saturation binding of [3H]ketanserin) in brain tissue obtained at postmortem from 19 suicide victims with definite evidence of depression and 19 sex and age-matched control subjects. Five of the suicide victims were receiving antidepressant drugs prior to death; 13 suicide victims had not been prescribed antidepressant or other psychoactive drugs recently and none were found in their blood at postmortem. The number of serotonin-2 (5-HT2) binding sites in frontal, temporal and occipital cortex and amygdala did not differ significantly between the depressed suicide victims and controls, either in the total suicide group or in the antidepressant drug-free suicides. The number of 5-HT2 binding sites in the hippocampus did not differ from controls in the total suicide group but was significantly lower (by 23%) in the antidepressant-free suicide group. The affinity of [3H]ketanserin binding did not differ from controls in the antidepressant-free suicides but was lower (increased Kd) in those subjects receiving antidepressant drugs. No correlation was found between the time of death and storage of tissue or the duration of tissue storage prior to assay and the number or affinity of 5-HT2 binding sites. A significant negative correlation was found between age of the subject and the number of 5-HT2 binding sites in the frontal and occipital cortex. The present study of suicide victims with definite evidence of depression do not confirm previous studies of increased numbers of 5-HT2 binding sites in suicide victims and suggest that these previous findings may be related to factors other than depression.
Brain Research.
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ABSTRACT: α1-Adrenoceptors and α2-adrenoceptors were measured by radioligand binding to homogenates of brain samples obtained at post-mortem from suicides with a retrospective diagnosis of depression, and age and gender-matched controls. Suicides were subdivided into those who had been free of antidepressant drugs for at least three months, and those in whom prescription of antidepressant drugs was clearly documented. The number of α1-adrenoceptors (or α1A+α1D-adrenoceptors) did not differ significantly between antidepressant-free or antidepressant-treated suicides and controls. In antidepressant-free suicides, the number of α2-adrenoceptors was significantly higher in temporal cortex (Ba 21/22). α2A-Adrenoceptors did not differ significantly from controls in this brain region, suggesting the involvement of other α2-adrenoceptor subtypes. In antidepressant-treated suicides, significantly lower numbers of α2-adrenoceptors were found in occipital cortex and hippocampus (and for α2A-adrenoceptors in caudate and amygdala) compared to controls.
Brain Research.
