Dopamine-sensitive adenylyl cyclase in human caudate nucleus. A study in control subjects and schizophrenic patients.

Striatal adenylyl cyclase activity from autopsied human brain is selectively stimulated by low concentrations of dopamine. Under the experimental conditions used, norepinephrine was about three times less potent than dopamine. Histamine and serotonin were ineffective. The stimulation by dopamine was competitively inhibited by haloperidol. There was no difference between the basal adenylyl cyclase activity or its level after dopamine stimulation between nine control subjects without a psychiatric history and seven patients with chronic schizophrenia.