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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
The Use of Pharmacological-challenge fMRI in Pre-clinical Research: Application to the 5-HT System
Published on: April 25, 2012
A PET study of brain 5-HT2 receptors and their correlation with platelet 5-HT2 receptors in healthy humans
L N Yatham1, M Steiner, P F Liddle
1Division of Mood Disorders Clinical Research Unit, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. yatham@unixg.ubc.ca
Rationale:
Platelets share many properties with brain serotonergic neurons such as active 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) transport, 5-HT2 receptors, and mitochondrial monoamine oxidase.
Objectives:
We measured brain 5-HT2 receptors and platelet 5-HT2 receptors in healthy volunteers to determine if there was any correlation between the two measures.
Methods:
Ten healthy volunteers with no lifetime history of psychiatric illness or family history in first-degree relatives were recruited. 5-HT2 receptor binding was determined for each subject with positron emission tomography and [18F]setoperone scan in the brain and with 3H-LSD binding in platelets.
Results:
We found no significant correlation between 5-HT2 binding potential (BP) in platelets (Bmax/Kd) and a semiquantitative estimate of 5-HT2 BP in frontal, parietal, and temporal cortical regions. SPM voxel based analysis also showed no significant correlation between the 5-HT2 BP in platelets and in the brains of the study subjects.
Conclusions:
Brain 5-HT2 receptor binding was not significantly correlated to platelet 3H-LSD binding in healthy subjects. This raises questions about the validity of generalizing findings from platelet studies to 5-HT neurons in the brain.
