We describe the precision and accuracy of a liquid chromatographic method, which uses internal standards, 6-fluoroserotonin and 5-hydroxyindolecarboxylic acid, in quantitating serotonin and ...5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in human cerebrospinal fluid, plasma and urine. In addition, 5-hydroxytryptophan is measured in the cerebrospinal fluid. The limit of sensitivity of this method is 0.1 pmol/injection, the peak height/concentration ratio is linear in the concentration range of 0.1 pmol to 50 mumol/injection, and the coefficient of variation is of the order of 15% at the limit of sensitivity and below 10% at amounts above 0.5 pmol/injection. No endogenous monoamines or their metabolites interfere with the quantitation of the substances of interest in the body fluids studied.
The present study was planned to test a recent observation of positive correlation between tryptophan and 5-hydroxyindole concentrations in postmortem human hypothalamic samples. Four other brain ...areas were studied, but no significant correlations were observed between tryptophan and serotonin or 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations, except in the nucleus accumbens samples of a suicide victim group. A possible in vivo correlation may have been obscured by postmortem changes. The use of tryptophan concentrations as an index for normalising postmortem brain serotonin data is not supported by the present results.
: The occurrence of acute leukaemia and other secondary neoplasms in 432 patients treated with conventional chemotherapy for multiple myeloma was analysed after a follow‐up period of 11–19 yr (mean ...16 yr). The number and organ‐specific distribution of observed solid neoplasms was close to that expected in the general population. Non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma developed in three patients (expected 0.7, p=0.19). Acute leukaemia was diagnosed in 14 patients with an actuarial risk of 9.8% at 9 yr. No further cases were diagnosed thereafter. The average numbers of courses (26.2 vs. 25.5) and cumulative doses of melphalan (1440 and 1400 mg) were similar in patients with or without acute leukaemia. It seems possible that the advanced stage of multiple myeloma is more vulnerable to the leukaemogenic effect of melphalan compared with the earlier stages.
Rat lines (AT, alcohol tolerant, insensitive; ANT, alcohol nontolerant, sensitive) selectively bred for differences in ethanol-induced motor impairment were subjected to studies on neuronal signal ...processing and cerebral regional glucose uptake as influenced by an acute moderate dose (2 g/kg) of ethanol. The cerebellar membrane GABA receptor complex was also studied with binding experiments using naive AT and ANT rats. Recordings of hippocampal EEG indicated that with and without ethanol administration a rotational stimulus caused EEG synchronization in both rat lines. There was no major difference in the 2-deoxyglucose accumulation into gross brain regions between the lines. Thus, a moderate dose of ethanol does not make these rat lines distinguishable in these tests. The number of muscimol binding sites tended to be higher and that of flunitrazepam binding sites lower in the cerebellum of AT rats. These variations could not be abolished by treating the membranes with a detergent to remove possible endogenous substances bound to the receptors. The functional significance of this small difference is not known, as the relationship between receptor numbers and function is still vague. The present results indicate that the central nervous system factors involved in acute alcohol sensitivity are subtle requiring detailed study at all levels from the membrane molecules to behaving animals.
Serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations were determined in various brain areas of nonschizophrenic suicide victims, chronic schizophrenic patients with or without suicide as ...the cause of death, and normal control subjects without psychiatric or neurologic disorders. Serotonin concentrations in the basal ganglia were significantly elevated in suicide victims and chronic schizophrenic patients, as were 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations in the occipital cortex. These differences were not specific to either patient group and may have been caused by neuroleptic or antidepressant treatment. A decreased 5-HT concentration was found in the hypothalamus of nonschizophrenic suicide victims. Among the chronic schizophrenic patients, there was no significant difference in the hypothalamic 5-HT content between the suicide victims and others, indicating that low 5-HT levels in the hypothalamus are not characteristic of schizophrenic patients who died of suicide.
A biological and clinical followup of the Genain Quadruplets was initiated as a multilaboratory collaborative effort at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The quadruplets are 51-year-old ...monozygotic women previously studied with a battery of psychological and physiological tests 25 years ago at the NIMH. The present article (the first of a series of three) details the clinical history and course of the schizophrenic illness in each of the quadruplets and describes the biochemical measures determined. The findings of elevated urinary phenylethylamine excretion, decreased plasma dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity, and increased alpha-adrenergic receptor concentrations in all quadruplets warrant further genetic studies.
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