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Experimental Brain Research

, Volume 168, Issue 4, pp 587–590 | Cite as

Increased density of GABAA receptors in the superior temporal gyrus in schizophrenia

  • Chao DengEmail author
  • Xu-Feng Huang
Research Note
First Online:

Abstract

The superior temporal gyrus (STG) is strongly implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, particularly with regards to auditory hallucinations. In a previous study we reported a decrease in the density of M1 and M2/M4 muscarinic receptors in the STG in schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated the density of GABAA receptors in the left STG of schizophrenia patients compared to control subjects. We used quantitative autoradiography to investigate the binding of the agonist [3H] muscimol to GABAA receptors in the STG. A significantly higher density of [3H] muscimol binding was observed in the upper three quarters of the STG grey matter (corresponding to layers I–IV) than in the lower one-quarter (layers V–VI) in both groups. A significant increase (about 30%, P<0.05) in binding of [3H] muscimol was clearly observed in schizophrenia patients compared to control subjects. There were no significant correlations between [3H] muscimol binding density and age, post-mortem interval, brain pH or final recorded antipsychotic drug use. These results suggest an increase of GABAA receptor densities in the STG of schizophrenia patients.

Keywords

Schizophrenia GABA receptor Autoradiography Superior temporal gyrus  
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Notes

Acknowledgements

Tissues were received from the NSW Tissue Resource Centre which is supported by The University of Sydney, the Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (NISAD), the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the NSW Department of Health. This work was supported by a University of Wollongong URC grant to C. Deng and NISAD, utilising infrastructure funding from NSW Health.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2005

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Biomedical ScienceUniversity of WollongongWollongongAustralia
  2. 2.Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (NISAD)SydneyAustralia

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