Palacios J M, Chinaglia G, Probst A
Preclinical Research, Sandoz Ltd, Basel, Switzerland.
Neurosurg Rev. 1989;12(1):11-20. doi: 10.1007/BF01787120.
Receptors for neurotransmitters and drugs are now well characterized at the molecular level. Thanks to the development of numerous radiolabeled molecules and to the use of autoradiography it is possible to study the characteristics and distribution of these receptors with the anatomical resolution of the microscope. We have used quantitative receptor autoradiography to examine receptors in the human brain and to study receptor alterations in neurodegenerative diseases of the human brain. Alterations in the density and distribution of receptors have been found in diseases such as amyothrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's Chorea, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. In these diseases different types of receptor alterations have been found. The most characteristic ones are selective receptor losses associated with neuronal losses. Alterations such as receptor hypersensitivity due to degeneration of target areas have also been observed. In some cases no correlations between alterations of the neurotransmitters and receptors have been found. These results indicate that different receptors are associated with specific neuronal systems and could be used as markers for these neuronal populations in different pathological studies. The possibility of visualizing receptors in the living human with non-invasive techniques such as PET could lead to the future use of receptor alterations as a diagnostic tool.
神经递质和药物的受体如今在分子水平上已得到充分表征。得益于众多放射性标记分子的研发以及放射自显影技术的应用，借助显微镜的解剖分辨率来研究这些受体的特性和分布成为可能。我们运用定量受体放射自显影技术来检测人类大脑中的受体，并研究人类大脑神经退行性疾病中的受体变化。在诸如肌萎缩侧索硬化症、亨廷顿舞蹈病、帕金森病和阿尔茨海默病等疾病中，已发现受体的密度和分布存在变化。在这些疾病中发现了不同类型的受体变化。最具特征性的是与神经元损失相关的选择性受体丧失。还观察到诸如因靶区退化导致的受体超敏等变化。在某些情况下，未发现神经递质变化与受体变化之间存在相关性。这些结果表明，不同的受体与特定的神经元系统相关联，并且在不同的病理学研究中可用作这些神经元群体的标记物。利用正电子发射断层扫描（PET）等非侵入性技术在活体人类中可视化受体的可能性，可能会使受体变化在未来用作诊断工具。
