ALTERATIONS IN TRH RECEPTORS IN TEMPORAL-LOBE OF SCHIZOPHRENICS - A QUANTITATIVE AUTORADIOGRAPHIC STUDY

We utilized quantitative autoradiography to determine the distribution of receptors for thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) throughout the h uman temporal lobe and to examine the distribution of these receptors in discrete subregions of the temporal lobe from patients diagnosed pr emortem with schizophrenia. When compared to non-neurologic controls, schizophrenic patients demonstrated an increase of 51% in the concentr ation of TRH receptors in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. Wi thin nuclei of the schizophrenic amygdala, marked decreases were found in the central (44%), medial (38%), cortical (36%), accessory cortica l (52%), lateral (54%), and medial basal (22%) nuclei. We also examine d postmortem brain samples from patients with Huntington's disease, am yotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease for alterations i n the distribution of TRH receptors. No significant differences from n on-neuropsychiatric controls were noted within the hippocampus in any of these disease states; however, slight alterations were noted in the central and medial basal amygdala in Huntington's disease and in the cortical amygdala in Alzheimer's disease. These disease-specific findi ngs suggest that TRH may play a role in the neurochemical dysfunction of schizophrenia. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.