Summary
Monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity has been measured in the platelets of controls (n=42) and schizophrenic patients (n=49) of three subtypes, using β-phenylethylamine, p-tyramine, and tryptamine as substrates. Characteristic differences of MAO activity were observed between platelets of patients and controls; the differences were substrate-typic: decreased enzyme activity was found with all three substrates in platelets of the parnaoid subtype. With tryptamine, MAO activity was decreased in the platelets of all three sub-types of schizophrenia. With p-tyramine, MAO was low in patients with affective psychoses and paranoid schizophrenia.
The value of MAO activity measurements as a means for distinguishing sub-types of schizophrenic disorders is improved by using two substrates; tryptamine and p-tyramine. Possible mechanisms of the substrate-typic changes of platelet MAO activity in schizophrenia are discussed.
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Demisch, L., von der Mühlen, H., Bochnik, H.J. et al. Substrate-typic changes of platelet monoamine oxidase activity in sub-types of schizophrenia. Arch. Psychiat. Nervenkr. 224, 319–329 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00341614
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00341614