Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-26T22:34:44.565Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

CSF monoamine metabolites in chronic schizophrenic patients who attempt suicide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Alec Roy*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Philip Ninan
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Anne Mazonson
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
David Pickar
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Daniel Van Kammen
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Markku Linnoila
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Steven M. Paul
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Alec Roy, National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Building 10, Room 4N-214, Bethesda, MD 20205, USA.

Synopsis

The monoamine metabolites 5-hydroxindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG) were measured in the lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 27 chronic schizophrenic patients who at some time had attempted suicide, and were compared with values from 27 chronic schizophrenic patients without a history of attempted suicide. There were no significant differences between either the violent or non-violent attempters and those without a history of attempted suicide in the mean lumbar CSF concentrations of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA, the dopamine metabolite HVA, or the norepinephrine metabolite MHPG. Significantly more of the suicide attempters had a previous major depressive episode, had received a course of ECT, and had significantly more psychiatric admissions than those who had never attempted suicide.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agren, H. (1980). Symptom patterns in unipolar and bipolar depression correlating with monoamine metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid: suicide. Psychiatry Research 3, 225236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM-III). APA: Washington D.C.Google Scholar
Åsberg, M. & Bertilsson, L. (1979). Serotonin in depressive illness: studies of CSF 5-HIAA. In Neuropsychopharmacology (ed. Saletu, B.), pp. 105115. Pergamon Press: New York.Google Scholar
Åsberg, M., Traskman, L. & Thoren, P. (1976). 5-HIAA in the cerebrospinal fluid. Archives of General Psychiatry 33, 11931197.Google Scholar
Åsberg, M., Bertilsson, L. & Thoren, P. (1978). CSF monoamine metabolites in depressive illness. In Depressive Disorders (ed. Garattini, S.), pp. 293305. Friedrich-Karl Schattauer Verlag: New York.Google Scholar
Banki, C. & Arato, M. (1983). Amine metabolites and neuroendocrine responses related to depression and suicide. Journal of Affective Disorders 5, 223232.Google Scholar
Bowers, M. & Gerbode, F. (1968). The relationship of monoamine metabolites in human cerebrospinal fluid to age. Nature 219, 12561257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G., Goodwin, F. & Ballenger, J. (1979). Aggression in humans: correlates with cerebrospinal fluid amine metabolites. Psychiatry Research 1, 131139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G., Ebert, M. & Goyer, P. (1982). Aggression, suicide and serotonin: relationships to CSF amine metabolites. American Journal of Psychiatry 139, 741746.Google ScholarPubMed
Bunney, W. & Hamburg, D. (1963). Methods for reliable observation of behavior. Archives of General Psychiatry 9, 280294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowdry, R., Prince, B. & Goodwin, F. (1985). Suicide, violence, and cerebrospinal fluid 5-HIAA in depressed patients. (Unpublished manuscript.)Google Scholar
Eichelman, B. (1979). Role of biogenic amines in aggressive behaviors. In Psychopharmacology of Aggression (ed. Sandler, M.), pp. 6193. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Ninan, P., van Kammen, D., Scheinin, M., Linnoila, M., Bunney, W. & Goodwin, F. (1984). Cerebrospinal fluid 5-HIAA in suicidal schizophrenic patients. American Journal of Psychiatry 141, 566569.Google ScholarPubMed
Petrucelli, B., Bakris, G. & Miller, T. (1982). A liquid Chromatographic assay for 5-hydroxytroptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in human body fluids. Acta Pharmacologica el Toxicologica 52, 421427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, L. (1953). Case history data and prognosis in schizophrenia. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 117, 515525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy, A. (1982 a). Risk factors for suicide in psychiatric patients. Archives of General Psychiatry 39, 10891095.Google Scholar
Roy, A. (1982 b). Suicide in chronic schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 141, 171177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy, A. (1983). Family history of suicide. Archives of General Psychiatry 40, 971974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy, A., Mazonson, A. & Pickar, D. (1984). Attempted suicide in chronic schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 144, 303306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheinin, M., Chang, W., Kirk, K. & Linnoila, M. (1983). Simultaneous determination of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and homovanillic acid in cerebrospinal fluid with high performance liquid chromatography using electrochemical detection. Annals of Biochemistry 131, 246253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sedvall, G. & Wode-Helgodt, B. (1980). Aberrant monoamine metabolite levels in CSF and family history of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 37, 111116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978). Research Diagnostic Criteria for a Selected Group of Functional Disorders. Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute: New York.Google Scholar
Traskman, L., Åsberg, M., Bertilsson, L. & Sjostrand, L. (1981). Monoamine metabolites in the CSF and suicidal behavior. Archives of General Psychiatry 38, 631636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Traskman-Bendz, L., Åsberg, M., Bertilsson, L. & Thoren, P. (1984). CSF and monoamine metabolites of depressed patients during illness and after recovery. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 69, 333342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Praag, H. (1982). Depression, suicide and metabolism of serotonin in the brain. Journal of Affective Disorders 4, 275290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Praag, H. (1983). CSF 5-HIAA and suicide in non-depressed schizophrenics. Lancet iii, 977978.Google Scholar
Welch, B. & Welch, A. (1969). Aggression and the biogenic amine neurohumours. In Aggressive Behaviour (ed. Garattini, S. and Sigg, E.), pp. 188202. Excerpta Medica: Amsterdam.Google Scholar