Abstract
The concentrations of serum homovanillic acid (HVA), norepinephrine (NE), tyrosine (Tyr), phenylalanine (Phe) and tryptophan (Trp), and the activities of serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH), platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO), and erythrocyte catechol- O-methyl transferase (COMT) were measured in 68 healthy parents who had schizophrenic offspring. The results show a significant correlation between the parents of schizophrenic patients in serum HVA ( r=0.38, n=34, p < 0.05), NE ( r=0.40, n=33, p < 0.02), Phe ( r=0.44, n=34, p < 0.01). Tyr ( r=0.43, n=34, p< 0.02) and DBH activity ( r=0.51, r=30, p < 0.005), but do not show a significant correlation in erythrocyte COMT ( r=0.01, n=27), platelet MAO ( r=0.04, n=23) or serum Trp ( r=0.10, n=34). There were no significant correlations in these measurements between randomly matched parents. The present study suggests that both parental sides of schizophrenic patients are likely to have similar alleles associated with the catecholamine pathway, and their ill offspring may possess a double dose of the schizophrenogenic alleles.
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