Dopamine and Neuroinflammation in Schizophrenia - Interpreting the Findings from Translocator Protein (18kDa) PET Imaging.

ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia is a complex disease whose pathophysiology is not yet fully understood. In addition to the long prevailing dopaminergic hypothesis, the evidence suggests that neuroinflammation plays a role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Recent studies using positron emission tomography (PET) that target a 18kDa translocator protein (TSPO) in activated microglial cells in an attempt to measure neuroinflammation in patients have shown a decrease or a lack of an increase in TSPO binding. Many biological and methodological considerations have been formulated to explain these findings. Although dopamine has been described as an immunomodulatory molecule, its potential role in neuroinflammation has not been explored in the aforementioned studies. In this review, we discuss the interactions

SUBMITTER: Iliopoulou SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8608287 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature