Higher Expression of Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptors in the Postmortem Brains of Teenage Suicide Victims

The authors examined whether 5-HT2A receptor subtypes are altered in the postmortem brains of 15 teenage suicide victims versus 15 normal matched controls. They observed significantly higher LSD binding in the prefrontal cortex & greater protein expression & mRNA levels in the prefrontal cortex & hippocampus of suicide victims. Greater protein expression was localized on pyramidal cells in cortical layer V. The findings suggest that a higher level of 5-HT2A receptors maybe a neurobiological abnormality associated with teenage suicide. (34 refs)