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Article
March 1989

Autoradiographic Analysis of Tritiated Imipramine Binding in the Human Brain Post Mortem: Effects of Suicide

Author Affiliations

From the Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989;46(3):237-241. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810030043006
Abstract

• In vitro quantitative autoradiography of high-affinity tritiated imipramine binding sites was performed on brains of 12 suicide victims and 12 matched controls. Region-specific differences in imipramine binding were found between the two groups. Thus, the pyramidal and molecular layers of the cornu ammoni hippocampal fields and the hilus of the dentate gyrus exhibited 80%, 60%, and 90% increases in binding in the suicide group, respectively. The postcentral cortical gyrus, insular cortex, and claustrum had 45%, 28%, and 75% decreases in binding in the suicide group, respectively. No difference in imipramine binding was observed in prefrontal cortical regions, in the basal ganglia, and in mesencephalic nuclei. No sex and postmortem delay effects on imipramine binding were found. lmipramine binding was positively correlated with age, the effect of age being most pronounced in portions of the basal ganglia and temporal cortex.

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