Expression of serotonin transporters in postmortem brains of Parkinson's disease patients / 基础医学与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective To study serotonin transporters(SERT) in postmortem human brains of Parkinson's disease(PD).Methods Immunoautoradiography was used to show SERT distribution in postmortem PD brains.ResultsIn comparison with healthy group,SERT decreased in dorsal raphe nucleus,substantia nigra and striatum in PD brains.Quantitative analysis showed that 25.9%、31.1%、27.2% and 24.7% of labeling intensity of SERT decreased in putamen,caudate nucleus,substantia nigra and ventrotegmental area as compared with corresponding control respectively.Among the four regions studied of dorsal raphe nucleus,SERT labeling intensity significantly decreased by 38.9%,37.3%,16.5% and 37.0% of corresponding control respectively in ventral part,dorsal part,caudal part and interfascicular part.Median raphe nucleus did not show the decreased SERT labeling.ConclusionDecreased SERT expression in three regions of postmortem PD brains indicates that a dysfunction of serotonergic raphe system may contribute to the etiology of Parkinson's disease.