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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra
Published on: September 8, 2021
Dopamine-glutamate abnormalities in the frontal cortex associated with the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) in
Ralf Brisch1, Hans-Gert Bernstein, Dieter Krell
1Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany. ralfbrisch@hotmail.com
Abstract:
Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays an important role in brain catecholamine metabolism. Several studies point to the involvement of COMT in schizophrenia. We applied COMT immunohistochemistry to paraffin-embedded brain sections and assessed the cell density of COMT expressing glial cells and COMT expressing neurons in the gray matter of the frontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia compared with control subjects. We found a significantly increased cell density of COMT expressing glial cells (p=0.003), but an unchanged cell density of COMT expressing neurons (p=0.778) in the gray matter of the frontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia compared with control subjects. Our study demonstrates that schizophrenia might involve increased COMT expression in glial cells in the frontal cortex, which might be associated with a neuronal-glial abnormality and a disturbed dopamine-glutamate interaction.
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