Brain 5-HT uptake sites, labelled with [ 3H]paroxetine, in antidepressant-free depressed suicides

Brain serotonin (5-HT) uptake sites were quantitated, by saturation binding of [ 3H]paroxetine, in 10 brain regions from 22 suicide victims and 20 control subjects. Suicide victims were restricted to those subjects in whom a firm retrospective diagnosis of depression was established and who had not recently been prescribed antidepressant drugs. The K d and B max of [ 3H]paroxetine did not differ significantly between controls and depressed suicides in any of the brain regions. In putamen, B max values of suicides who died non-violently were lower than controls, whereas those who died by violent methods did not differ from controls. No significant differences between violent or non-violent suicides and their matched controls were found in other brain areas. These results offer little support for the view that suicide/depression is associated with an abnormality in 5-HT uptake.