Background: Abnormalities in types of neurotransmitter signaling that are coupled with phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC) have previously been reported in brains from patients with schizophrenia. PLC, a main component of this pathway, may be affected in schizophrenia.
Methods: We immunoquantified PLC beta 1, gamma 1 and delta 1 in the left prefrontal cortex and superior temporal cortex, nucleus accumbens and amygdala, and in the right superior temporal cortex of postmortem brains obtained from a total of 19 patients with schizophrenia and a total of 27 controls.
Results: PLC beta 1 immunoreactivities were increased in the particulate fraction from the prefrontal cortex (by 64%), although they were decreased in the particulate fraction from the left superior temporal cortex (by 28%), as compared with the values in controls. There was no difference in PLC beta 1 immunoreactivities in the nucleus accumbens, the amygdala or the right superior temporal cortex between schizophrenic patients and controls. PLC gamma 1 and delta 1 immunoreactivities did not differ between the two groups in any of the regions studied.
Conclusions: Changes in PLC beta 1 immunoreactivities in the prefrontal and superior temporal cortex of patients with schizophrenia may reflect abnormalities in neurotransmissions via receptors that are coupled with the Gq alpha-PLC beta 1 cascade.