Meyer-Lindenberg A. Striatal presynaptic dopamine in schizophrenia, part II: meta-analysis of 18F/11C-DOPA studies

has been postulated to be fundamental to the emergence of key symptoms of schizophrenia, such as psychotic symptoms, and is targeted by currently available dopa-minergic drugs. A specific marker of the integrity of pre-synaptic dopamine neurons in the striatum, the density of striatal dopamine terminals, can be quantified through molecular neuroimaging of the dopamine active trans-porter (DAT). However, the currently available results using this approach in schizophrenia are inconsistent. Methods: Thirteen Single Photon Emission Tomography or Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies inves-tigating DAT density in the striatum of schizophrenic patients and matched controls were included in a quanti-tative meta-analysis. Binding potentials in the striatum, caudate, and putamen, as well as demographic, clinical