Schizophrenia and the parvalbumin-containing class of cortical local circuit neurons

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that abnormalities in the parvalbumin-containing subclass of local circuit neurons contribute to altered gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenic subjects. METHOD: Profile counts and somal size measures were made of parvalbumin- immunoreactive neurons in areas 9, 46, and 17 from 15 matched pairs of schizophrenic and normal comparison subjects. RESULTS: No differences in relative density, laminar distribution, or somal size of labeled neurons were found in any region. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that altered GABA neurotransmission in schizophrenia is due to either abnormalities in other sub-populations of prefrontal cortical GABA neurons or abnormalities in the parvalbumin-containing subclass that could not be detected in the present study.