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Concentrations of free 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid are highly correlated, but concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid are always higher than those in plasma, even when large amounts of the catecholamine metabolite are derived from a tumor of the adrenal medulla. This is explained by considering the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid as a two-compartment system in which the rate constants for entry into and exit from the cerebrospinal fluid compartment are similar. 3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol that is synthesized, but not catabolized, in the central nervous system maintains cerebrospinal fluid levels at an increment over those in plasma. This increment can be used to provide the best available index of formation of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol in the central nervous system.

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Concentrations of the norepinephrine metabolite 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl glycol in cerebrospinal fluid were measured by a gas chromatographic method in 34 patients with affective illness and in 44 controls. Concentrations of this metabolite in spinal fluid were significantly lower in depressed patients than in controls or manic patients. These low values may occur secondary to depressive phenomena such as reduced psychomotor activity, or they may reflect a primary change in norepinephrine metabolism in depressive illness.

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