Cerebrospinal Fluid Concentrations Of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic Acid Research Articles

Early maternal rejection affects the development of monoaminergic systems and adult abusive parenting in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

This study investigated the effects of early exposure to variable parenting style and infant abuse on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of monoamine metabolites and examined the role of monoaminergic function in the intergenerational transmission of infant abuse in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Forty-three infants reared by their biological mothers and 15 infants that were cross-fostered at birth and reared by unrelated mothers were followed longitudinally through their first 3 years of life or longer. Approximately half of the infants were reared by abusive mothers and half by nonabusive controls. Abused infants did not differ from controls in CSF concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA), or 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylgycol (MHPG). Abused infants, however, were exposed to higher rates of maternal rejection, and highly rejected infants had lower CSF 5-HIAA and HVA than low-rejection infants. The abused females who became abusive mothers in adulthood had lower CSF 5-HIAA than the abused females who did not. A similar trend was also observed among the cross-fostered females, suggesting that low serotonergic function resulting from early exposure to high rates of maternal rejection plays a role in the intergenerational transmission of infant abuse.

HTR2C Cys23Ser polymorphism in relation to CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations and DSM-III-R psychiatric diagnoses

Background: Heritable variation in brain monoaminergic activity has been suggested to lead to interindividual differences in vulnerability to alcoholism, and many other behavioral disorders. We evaluated if a functional Cys23Ser polymorphism in the 5–HT2C receptor gene, the principal serotonin receptor in the brain, contributes to variation in serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine activity, as indexed by their major metabolite concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Genotype–monoamine metabolite concentration associations were subsequently correlated to risk for alcoholism. Methods: The study sample consisted of unrelated Finnish males, including 214 alcoholic, violent offenders and 222 population controls who were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, blind rated for psychiatric diagnoses and typed for the HTR2C Cys23Ser polymorphism. CSF concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), the major metabolite of serotonin, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG), the major metabolite of norepinephrine, and homovanillic acid (HVA), the major metabolite of dopamine were available from 195 individuals. Results: The major finding in this study was that HTR2C CysSer23 significantly contributed to CSF MHPG concentrations ( p = .012). Higher concentrations of CSF MHPG were observed both in alcoholic violent offenders and population controls with HTR2C Ser23 genotype. Despite the association of Cys23Ser to CSF MHPG, HTR2C genotype was not associated with alcoholism, nor with other psychiatric disorders present in this sample. Conclusions: We conclude that a functional HTR2C Cys23Ser polymorphism contributes to the interindividual genetic variation of CSF MHPG explaining 3% of the total variance. This finding suggests that 5-HT2C receptors are involved in the regulation of norepinephrine turnover in humans; however, HTR2C Cys23Ser does not appear to contribute to the risk of alcoholism, or its contribution to this complex and heterogenous disorder is too small to be detected by a sample of this size and structure.

Indole amine deficiency in blood and cerebrospinal fluid from patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

Twenty-four patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were investigated for possible changes in certain indole amine constituents in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Albumin in serum was determined and used as a rough nutritional marker. Six of the 24 patients had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS, four had other clinical symptoms of HIV infection, and 14 had no apparent symptoms. The HIV-seropositive patients had significantly decreased tryptophan values; their blood concentrations were 28% lower and their CSF concentrations 30% lower than corresponding values in 14 healthy controls. The blood concentrations of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were 50% lower, and the platelet content of 5-HT was 36% lower in HIV-infected individuals than in the control group. The most pronounced changes were invariably seen in the six cases with AIDS and in patients with a low number of CD4+ cells. No significant difference between controls and HIV-seropositive patients was detected in the mean CSF concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), although these levels were markedly reduced in four of the HIV patients. Neither was any significant difference seen between patients and controls in the serum concentrations of albumin.

REM sleep eye movement activity and CSF concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in psychiatric patients

The relationship between rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep tonic and phasic activity measures and the pre-and postprobenecid cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) was examined in a sample of 14 unmedicated psychiatric patients. The average duration of an eye movement burst and the average number of eye movements within a burst were found to be inversely related to the probenecid corrected accumulation of 5-HIAA in the CSF. These results are interpreted as indicating an association between REM burst eye movement activity and serotonin turnover in psychiatric subjects.