Decreased hippocampal expression of a glutamate receptor gene in schizophrenia

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 337; no. 8739; pp. 450 - 452
• Main Authors: Harrison, P.J, McLaughlin, D, Kerwin, R.W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 23.02.1991; Lancet; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anatomy & physiology; Autoradiography; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Eating behavior disorders; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Gene expression; Genetics; Glutamatergic transmission; Glutamic acid receptors (ionotropic); Hippocampus; Hippocampus - chemistry; Humans; Medical research; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; mRNA; N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors; Necropsy; Nervous system; Oligonucleotide Probes; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Receptors, Kainic Acid; Receptors, Neurotransmitter - genetics; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - genetics; Human; Psychosis; Messenger RNA; Central nervous system; Schizophrenia; Glutamate receptor; Gene expression; Hippocampus; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)93392-M

A striking and specific loss of the messenger RNA that encodes a non-N-methyl D-aspartate (non-NMDA) glutamate receptor was found in hippocampal tissue obtained at necropsy from 6 patients with schizophrenia, when compared to specimens from 8 controls without neurological or psychiatric signs or symptoms. These findings support suggestions of aberrant glutamatergic function in schizophrenia. Evidence that gene expression may be abnormal in schizophrenia, with decreased production of an excitatory neurotransmitter receptor, may have therapeutic as well as pathogenetic implications.