Dopamine uptake by platelets from subjects with schizophrenia: A correlation with the delusional state of the patient

The uptake of ³H-dopamine by platelets from patients with a number of psychiatric disorders has been compared with that by platelets from normal volunteers. Overall, ³H-dopamine uptake by platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from 25 schizophrenic subjects did not differ from ³H-dopamine uptake by PRP from 22 nonschizophrenic patients and 61 normal volunteers. In the schizophrenic group, however, there was an increased spread of results with seven values falling outside the range of results observed in the control group. Furthermore, of the patients rated, only for the schizophrenic patients was there an inverse correlation between ³H-dopamine uptake by platelets and the rating for delusions on the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms. Thus, ³H-dopamine uptake by platelets seems, in some way, to be linked to the delusional state of the patient. Further study of ³H-dopamine uptake by platelets is warranted in a larger and more diverse group of patients to determine the significance of altered dopamine uptake by platelets from some schizophrenic subjects and the correlation between platelet ³H-dopamine uptake and the delusional state of these subjects.