Characterization of 5-HT1D receptor binding sites in post-mortem human brain cortex

The present study provides further evidence for the presence of serotonin1D (5-HT1D) receptors in post-mortem human brain. Receptor binding parameters in temporal cortex homogenates were assessed using [3H]5-HT in the presence of 100 nM 8-OH-DPAT, 1 microM propranolol and 1 microM mesulergine to prevent labelling of the 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B and 5-HT1C sites, respectively. Under these conditions, [3H]5-HT apparently bound to a class of high affinity (Kd = 5.0 +/- 1.0 nM) low capacity (Bmax = 96 +/- 23 fmol/mg protein) sites. In competition experiments, 5-HT and 5-carboxyamidotryptamine (5-CT), as well as ergotamine, lysergic acid, sumatriptan and RU-24969 exhibited high affinity for these sites. This pharmacological profile is concordant with the ligand selectivity pattern reported for 5-HT1D receptors in other species and thus provides further evidence for its existence in human temporal cortex. In addition, the competition profile of some ligands, particularly of unlabelled 5-HT, 5-CT and ergotamine, revealed the existence of a lower affinity binding site. The latter suggests receptor heterogeneity or the presence of a lower affinity state of 5-HT1D receptors.