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Dopamine-receptor autoradiography of human narcoleptic brain

Department of Neurology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI.

Although the pathology of human narcolepsy is unknown, studies of human and canine narcolepsy have suggested that dopamine metabolism may be disturbed. We used quantitative autoradiography to assess dopamine D₁- and D₂-receptor binding in basal ganglia and amygdala of five narcoleptic and 17 control human brains. In caudate, narcoleptic brains had a statistically significant increase of 57% in D₁- receptor binding, and large but not significant increases of 54% in medial globus pallidus D₁ binding, 63% in caudate D₂-receptor binding, 95% in lateral globus pallidus D₂ binding, and 93% in lateral amygdala D₂ binding. We found no major changes in the putamen or in the basal or accessory basal nuclei of the amygdala. These results suggest that narcolepsy is associated with upregulation of dopamine receptors in specific areas of the brain, although medications used prior to death may have contributed to the findings.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Michael Aldrich, Department of Neurology, Taubman Center 1920/0316, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–0316.

Supported by the American Narcolepsy Association and USPHS Grant AGO8671.

Presented in part at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Boston, MA, April 1991.

Received April 24, 1991. Accepted for publication in final form July 22, 1991.

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