Mu opioid receptor availability in people with psychiatric disorders who died by suicide: a case control study
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BACKGROUND: Mu opioid receptors have previously been shown to be altered in people with affective disorders who died as a result of suicide. We wished to determine whether these changes were more widespread and independent of psychiatric diagnoses. METHODS: Mu receptor levels were determined using [3 H]DAMGO binding in BA24 from 51 control subjects; 38 people with schizophrenia (12 suicides); 20 people with major depressive disorder (15 suicides); 13 people with bipolar disorder (5 suicides) and 9 people who had no history of psychiatric disorders but who died as a result of suicide. Mu receptor levels were further determined in BA9 and caudate-putamen from 38 people with schizophrenia and 20 control subjects using [3 H]DAMGO binding and, in all three regions, using Western blots. Data was analysed using one-way ANOVAs with Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test or, where data either didn't approximate to a binomial distribution or the sample size was too small to determine distribution, a Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's Multiple Comparison Test. RESULTS: [3 H]DAMGO binding density was lower in people who had died as a result of suicide (p<0.01). People with schizophrenia who had died as a result of suicide had lower binding than control subjects (p<0.001), whilst people with bipolar disorder (non- suicide) had higher levels of binding (p<0.05). [3 H]DAMGO binding densities, but not mu protein levels, were significantly decreased in BA9 from people with schizophrenia who died as a result of suicide (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Overall these data suggest that mu opioid receptor availability is decreased in the brains of people with schizophrenia who died as a result of suicide, which would be consistent with increased levels of endogenous ligands occupying these receptors.
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Altered mu opioid receptor binding is related to suicide risk, perhaps via dysregulation of reward circuitry and social function.
“Altered mu opioid receptor binding is also related to suicide risk (40, 147), perhaps via dysregulation of reward circuitry and social function (40).”
From A brain-centric model of suicidal behavior (2020) · cites this paper as [147]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Scarr, E., Money, T. T., Pavey, G., Neo, J., & Dean, B.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Scarr, Elizabeth
- Venue
- BMC Psychiatry
- Published
- 2012-08-28
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 126-126
- ISSN
- 1471-244X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3479023
- OpenAlex
- W2081851834
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology) (cc-by)
- Funders
- Equity Trustees
- Australian Rotary Health
- University of Melbourne
- Victorian Brain Bank
- Medical Research Council
- Australian Research Council (FT100100689)
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1002240, 509306)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- mu-opioid receptor, suicide, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, postmortem brain, caudate-putamen, endogenous opioid ligands, mental illness
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Bipolar Disorder, Brain, Major Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Major, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Schizophrenia, Suicide, Case-Control Studies, Receptors, Opioid, mu
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