We examined the mRNA expression of the glutamate and GABA-A receptor subunits in the putamen from alcoholics and individuals without alcohol dependence. Normalized average expression levels of the different receptor subunits in the putamen of individuals without alcohol dependence are shown in Figures 5, 7. This qualitative expression of high and medium was defined as equal to or greater than that of GluN1 and GluA1, respectively, for glutamate receptors (Figure 5), and as equal to or greater than that of γ1 and δ, respectively, for the GABA-A receptors (Figure 7). For glutamate receptors, the results showed high expression of GluA2 and GluN1, medium expression of GluA1, GluA3, and GluN2B, but lower expression of other glutamate receptor subunit mRNAs. For GABA-A receptors, the results showed high expression of α2, α4, α5, β1, β2, γ1, and γ2 but moderate expression of α1, β3, and δ. The remaining GABA-A subunits were expressed at a lower level.
