The effect of chlorpromazine on homovanillic acid levels in cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenic patients.

Abstract

A mass fragmentometric method was used for determination of homovanillic acid levels in cerebrospinal fluid of acutely admitted schizophrenic patients. Spinal puncture was performed before and 12 days following the beginning of chlorpromazine treatment (200–600 mg/day). The level of homovanillic acid in cerebrospinal fluid before treatment was significantly higher in women than in men. Chlorpromazine treatment resulted on the average in a more than 2-fold elevation of the homovanillic acid level in cerebrospinal fluid. There were marked individual differences in the effect. The results are compatible with the view that therapeutic doses of chlorpromazine accelerate brain dopamine synthesis in man. A close analysis of the relation between effects of chlorpromazine on brain dopamine synthesis and psychotic and motor behaviour in schizophrenic patients seems required.