Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Scientific Correspondence
  • Published:

C957T polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene affects striatal DRD2 availability in vivo

Molecular Psychiatry volume 9, pages 1060–1061 (2004)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 25 August 2005

SIR—The synonymous mutation C957T in the human D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) has been shown to reduce mRNA stability and synthesis of the receptor in vitro1. We studied whether this polymorphism affects in vivo DRD2 binding in 45 healthy subjects using [11C]raclopride and positron emission tomography (PET). Subjects carrying the 957T allele had markedly lower striatal D2 receptor availability. This in vivo neurobiological correlate in the brain makes the C957T an interesting candidate for genetic predisposition studies in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) has been suggested to be involved in the biology of several neuropsychiatric disorders,2 and is an important target for drug treatment, for example, in schizophrenia. Previous PET studies have revealed a high interindividual variation in striatal DRD2 density in vivo,3, 4 part of which is explained by genetic factors.4 Recently reported synonymous C957T polymorphism of DRD2 dramatically decreases DRD2 mRNA stability and receptor synthesis, which makes it a potent DRD2 expression-regulating factor in vitro.1 We tested whether the DRD2 C957T polymorphism and a related modulating polymorphism, G1101A,1 affect DRD2 density in vivo in man. DRD2 availability (binding potential, BP) was measured by using [11C]raclopride and PET5 in a previous sample of healthy volunteers.4

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Duan J et al. Hum Mol Genet 2003; 12: 205–216.

  2. Noble EP . Am J Med Genet 2003; 116B: 103–125.

  3. Farde L et al. Synapse 1995; 20 (3): 200–208.

  4. Pohjalainen T et al. Mol Psychiatry 1998; 3: 256–260.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hietala J et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994; 51: 116–123.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Laakso A et al. Pharmacogenetics, (in press)..

  7. Dubertret C et al. Schizophr Res 2004; 67 (1): 75–85.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    M Hirvonen & T Pohjalainen

  2. Turku PET Centre, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland

    M Hirvonen, A Laakso, K Någren, J O Rinne & J Hietala

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland

    J Hietala

Authors
  1. M Hirvonen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A Laakso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K Någren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J O Rinne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. T Pohjalainen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J Hietala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J Hietala.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hirvonen, M., Laakso, A., Någren, K. et al. C957T polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene affects striatal DRD2 availability in vivo. Mol Psychiatry 9, 1060–1061 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001561

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001561

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links