Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area : An Autopsy Case of Disorganized Type of Schizophrenia

Abstract EN

The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system has been associated with the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Here, we examined DA-containing neuronal structures of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of an autopsy case of disorganized type of schizophrenia (75-year-old female), using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry.

A free floating method using 50-μm cryostat sections and three-dimensional imaging analyzer AxioVision were applied to observe the wide range structures of TH-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons.

TH-ir neuronal cell bodies in the VTA of the present case had irregular shape and various size, and TH-ir neuronal processes had irregular thickness and straightened shape or curved shape having many corners, when compared to a control autopsy case with no detectable neurological and psychiatric diseases (64-year-old male).

The mechanisms underlying the morphological characteristics of DA neurons of the brains with schizophrenia should be elucidated epigenetically as well as genetically.