A morphometric, immunohistochemical, and in situ hybridization study of the dorsal raphe nucleus in major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and suicide.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Several lines of evidence implicate 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) in the pathophysiology of mood disorders and suicide. However, it is unclear whether these conditions include morphological involvement of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), the origin of most forebrain 5-HT innervation.

Method

We used morphometric, immunohistochemical, and molecular methods to compare the DRN in post-mortem tissue of 50 subjects (13 controls, 14 major depressive disorder [MDD], 13 bipolar disorder, 10 schizophrenia; 17 of the cases died by suicide). NeuN and PH8 antibodies were used to assess all neurons and serotonergic neurons respectively; 5-HT(1A) autoreceptor expression was investigated by regional and cellular in situ hybridization. Measurements were made at three rostro

SUBMITTER: Matthews PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3314923 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature