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Effect of Aging on Gene Expression of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 and Glutamate Transporter‐1 in the Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenics
Author(s) -
Shimada Hideho,
Ohnuma Tohru,
Emson Piers C.,
Aral Heii
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
psychogeriatrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1479-8301
pISSN - 1346-3500
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-8301.2001.tb00072.x
Subject(s) - glutamatergic , metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 , prefrontal cortex , metabotropic glutamate receptor , glutamate receptor , nmda receptor , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , neuroscience , metabotropic receptor , metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 , psychology , endocrinology , biology , medicine , receptor , psychiatry , cognition
Background : The involvement of the glutamatergic system in the patho‐physiology of schizophrenia is attracting interest because an antagonist of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor has been demonstrated to induce schizophrenic‐like symptoms in normal subjects. The results of previous studies have also suggested that glutamatergic function is reduced in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of diagnosed schizophrenics. In order to provide additional evidence for this, we investigated whether expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) and glutamate transporter‐1 (GLT‐1) in the PFC is altered in schizophrenia. Methods : We compared the expression of mGluRS and GLT‐1 by in situ hybridization in Brodmann area 9 (B9) and 10 (B10) of the prefrontal cortex in 5 normal individuals and 5 schizophrenics that were younger than in previous studies, and examined the relationship between age and mRNA expression. Results : There were no significant differences in either mGluR5 or GLT‐1 mRNA expression between the schizophrenics and controls, however, there was a significant correlation to increase mGluR5 mRNA levels in the schizophrenics in both layer III and layer V of B9 with age, a finding not observed in the controls. Conclusion : The results suggest that the brains of schizophrenics may be vulnerable to aging and that the glutamatergic dysfunctions previously reported in schizophrenics may be partly explained by the aging process.