Expression of the alpha(1), alpha(2), and alpha(3) isoforms of the GABA(A) receptor in human alcoholic brain

The expression of the alpha(1), alpha(2) and alpha(3) isoforms of the GABA(A) receptor was studied in the superior frontal and motor cortices of 10 control, 10 uncomplicated alcoholic and 7 cirrhotic alcoholic cases matched for age and post-mortem delay. The assay was based on competitive RT/PCR using a single set of primers specific to the alpha class of isoform mRNA species, and was normalized against a synthetic cRNA internal standard. The assay was shown to be quantitative for all three isoform mRNA species. Neither the patient's age nor the post-mortem interval significantly affected the expression of any isoform in either cortical area. The profile of expression was shown to be significantly different between the case groups, particularly because alpha(1) expression was raised in both groups of alcoholics cf controls. The two groups of alcoholics could be differentiated on the basis of regional variations in alpha(1) expression. In frontal cortex, alpha(1) mRNA expression was significantly increased when uncomplicated alcoholics were compared with control cases whereas alcoholic-cirrhotic cases were not significantly different from either controls or uncomplicated alcoholic cases. In the motor cortex, alpha(1) expression was elevated only when alcoholic-cirrhotic cases were compared with control cases. There was no significant difference between case groups or areas for any other isoform. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.