Autoradiographic Analysis of Serotonin 5-HT1A Receptor Binding in the Human Brain Postmortem: Effects of age and Alcohol

Quantitative autoradiographic analysis of serotonin 5-HT1A receptors in the human brain, using 3H8-OH-DPAT as a ligand, reveal region-specific decreases in receptor labeling with age in several cortical & hippocampal regions & in the raphe nuclei due to a change in receptor density (B-max) with no apparent change in affinity (K-d). The presence of alcohol is associated with decreased binding in several cortical gyri. Suicide, gender & postmortem delay had no effect on 8-OH-DPAT binding.