Wise C D, Stein L
Science. 1973 Jul 27;181(4097):344-7. doi: 10.1126/science.181.4097.344.
Postmortem brain specimens from 18 schizophrenic patients and 12 normal controls were assayed for dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), the enzyme responsible for the final step in norepinephrine biosynthesis. There was a significant reduction in the DBH activity of the schizophrenic group in all brain regions examined. Enzyme deficits in hippocampus and diencephalon were somewhat larger than that in pons-medulla. Since various extraneous factors, such as non-specific deterioration, drug treatment, duration of hospitalization, cause of death, sex, and age could be ruled out, the deficits in DBH mnay be associated with the schizophrenic disease process. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that noradrenergic "reward" pathways are damaged in schizophrenia.
对18例精神分裂症患者和12名正常对照者的尸检脑标本进行了多巴胺-β-羟化酶（DBH）检测，该酶负责去甲肾上腺素生物合成的最后一步。在所有检查的脑区中，精神分裂症组的DBH活性均显著降低。海马和间脑的酶缺乏程度比脑桥-延髓的稍大。由于可以排除各种外部因素，如非特异性退变、药物治疗、住院时间、死亡原因、性别和年龄，DBH的缺乏可能与精神分裂症的疾病过程有关。这些发现与精神分裂症中去甲肾上腺素能“奖赏”通路受损的假说一致。
