Altered Hippocampal Muscarinic M4, but Not M1, Receptor Expression from Subjects with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: Having shown a decrease in [3H]pirenzepine binding in the hippocampus from subjects with schizophrenia, we wished to determine whether such a change in radioligand binding was associated with changes in hippocampal mRNA for the muscarinic1 (M1) and muscarinic4 (M4) receptors in tissue from different cohorts of subjects. Method: The [3H]pirenzepine binding using autoradiography and in situ hybridization with oligonucleotides specific for muscarinic M1 and M4 receptors were completed using hippocampal tissue obtained postmortem from 20 control subjects and 20 subjects with schizophrenia. Results: The [3H]pirenzepine binding was decreased in the dentate gyrus (p < .05), CA3 (p < .01..