Effects of benzodiazepine treatment on cortical GABAA and muscarinic receptors: Studies in schizophrenia and rats

Abstract

Changes in cortical γ-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptors and muscarinic receptors have been reported in schizophrenia, a disorder treated with antipsychotic drugs and benzodiazepines. As there is a reported functional relationship between the GABAergic and cholinergic systems in the human central nervous system we have investigated whether there are changes in the GABAA and muscarinic receptors in the cortex of subjects from APD-treated subjects with schizophrenia and whether changes were different in subjects who had also received benzodiazepine treatment. We failed to show any strong correlations between changes in GABAA and muscarinic receptors in the CNS of subjects with schizophrenia..