No change in the density of the serotonin(1A) receptor, the serotonin₄ receptor or the serotonin transporter in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia

Changes in serotonin receptors and the serotonin transporter have been reported in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia, an area of the brain thought to be important in the pathology of the illness. To further our understanding on how such changes could play a role in the pathology of the illness, in situ radioligand binding with autoradiography was used to measure the density of the serotonin(1A) receptor, the serotonin₄ receptor and the serotonin transporter in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, obtained at autopsy, from 10 schizophrenic and 10 control subjects. The binding of [³H]8-OH-DPAT to serotonin receptor, [³H]GR113808 to the 5HT₄ receptor and [³H]citalopram to serotonin transporter was not altered in subjects with schizophrenia. Significantly, only in tissue from the control subjects was there a relationship between age and the density of the serotonin₄ receptor in Brodmann's areas 8 (r = 0.71, P = 0.02) and 10 (r = -0.67, P = 0.03). Importantly, this confounding factor did not influence the comparison of the density of serotonin₄ receptor in the tissue from the schizophrenic and control subjects. This study has failed to show a difference in the density of serotonin(1A) receptor, the serotonin₄ receptor or the serotonin transporter in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann's areas 8, 9 and 10) from subjects with schizophrenia. These data suggest that not all serotonergic markers are altered in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from schizophrenic subjects.