Dopamine transporter density of striatum showed to be increased in Schizophrenia

What is it about?

Successful treatment with dopamine antagonists plays a crucial role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Little is known, however, about the dopaminergic function in schizophrenia and there is a controversy among different studies. We evaluated the pre-synaptic dopamine transporter density with SPECT using 123I-FP-CIT (DaT Scan), in 15 drug-naive patients (10 F, 5 M) (27±3 years old) with first-episode of schizophrenia and 20 (12 F, 8 M) (30±8 years old) healthy controls. All the patients underwent MRI, perfusion SPECT using HMPAO and DaT Scan. Results: A significant increase of striatal radiotracer uptake in DaT scan was shown in our patients with schizophrenia compared to normal group (p=0.000), while rCBF in these regions didn’t show any significant difference. Also significant negative correlations were found between 123I-FP-CIT binding ratios in right and left caudate nuclei and right striatum with positive symptoms of patients. Conclusion: Elevated density of presynaptic dopamine transporters, may be part of the neuro-pathological abnormality which is associated with dopaminergic activity in schizophrenia.

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Why is it important?

This study provides additional information about the involvement of the dopaminergic system in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the potential presence of a physiopatholological variation in two types of Schizophrenia.

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