Citation

Bonkale WL, Turecki G, Austin MC. Synapse 2006; 60(1): 81-85.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/syn.20278

PMID

16596624

PMCID

PMC2925396

Abstract

Considerable evidence suggests that alcoholics with co-occurring depressive disorder are at greater risk for developing psychosocial problems particularly suicidal behavior. Moreover, dysfunction in serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission has been implicated in depression, suicide and alcoholism. In the present study, we measured the levels of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the main synthetic enzyme of 5-HT synthesis, in specific nuclei of the dorsal raphe (DR) in depressed suicide victims with alcohol dependence and matched psychiatrically normal controls. TPH immunoreactivity (IR) was quantified in frozen tissue sections containing the DR from 8 suicide victims with a diagnosis of major depression and alcohol dependence, and 8 psychiatrically normal control subjects by using immunoautoradiographic methods. We found that the levels of TPH-IR were significantly increased by 46% in the dorsal subnucleus of the DR in depressed suicide victims with alcohol dependence when compared with controls. In contrast, TPH-IR levels did not significantly differ in the other DR subnuclei between depressed, alcoholic suicide subjects, and controls. Our results indicate that abnormalities in 5-HT biosynthesis in the brain of depressed alcoholic suicide subjects are restricted within distinct regions of the DR.

Language: en

Keywords

Adult; Alcoholism; Autoradiography; Depression; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Raphe Nuclei; Suicide; Tryptophan Hydroxylase