Binding of a tritiated inverse agonist to cannabinoid CB1 receptors is increased in patients with schizophrenia

This study sought to determine whether cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor binding was altered in the postmortem dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of individuals with schizophrenia (schizophrenia; n = 47) compared to controls (n = 43). The CB1 receptor inverse agonist radioligand [3H]MePPEP was used to measure specific binding to CB1 receptors. The specific binding of [3H]MePPEP to CB1 receptors was 20% higher in patients with schizophrenia than in controls. Power analyses suggested that 53 subjects per group would be needed to detect a similar difference in vivo with positron emission tomography (PET) and the structurally related inverse agonist radioligand [18F]FMPEP-d2 (80% statistical power, p < 0.05).