Central Norepinephrine Metabolism in Affective Illness: MHPG in the Cerebrospinal Fluid

Post, Robert M.; Gordon, Edna K.; Goodwin, Frederick K.; Bunney, William E.

doi:10.1126/science.179.4077.1002

Cited by 160 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, elevated catecholamine activity has been suggested as a possible factor in the etiology of diabetes [25,26], and a beta adrenergic mechanism has been proposed as a central element in the development of bronchial asthma [27]. In contrast, decreased catecholamine levels have been found in some affective psychiatric disorders [28,29].From these reports and in view of the fact that the catecholamines are capable of directly influencing the functioning of many organs and tissues and of indirectly affecting still others, the argument for a generalized pathologic effect of adverse psychosocial events takes on added plausibility. The potential importance of such a relationship for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease is evident.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Catecholamine activity and reported morbidity

Gruchow

1976

Journal of Chronic Diseases

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Abstract:Urinary VMA levels were measured in relation to the reporting of morbidity in an attempt to determine whether altered catecholamine activity is related to specific disease syndromes, or is a general characteristic of morbidity. The cross-sectional data show elevated VMA levels to be associated with the reporting of chronic disease conditions; non-chronic conditions and affective disorders were associated with lower VMA values, Although these findings are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that psycho-social stimuli acting through the sympathetic-adrenal medullary system may be important in the etiology of chronic disease conditions, alternative explanations are discussed and the need for further longitudinal studies indicated. Article:INTRODUCTION DURING the past several decades, the study of relationships between psychosocial factors and disease has led to better understanding of both the psychosocial events which may trigger or enhance disease processes, and the physiological mechanisms involved. Investigators are now in substantial agreement that psychosocial events can play an etiological role in a variety of different diseases. However, despite this progress, it is still unclear how these events are translated into disease states.Two different approaches have generally been taken to study this problem. One approach holds that there is a degree of specificity in these relationships, with certain types of psychosocial events more often associated with one type of pathophysiologic condition than other types. This approach is illustrated by numerous studies which have successfully demonstrated that specific disease entities such as tuberculosis [1,2], hypertension [3][4][5], coronary heart disease [6], cancer [7,8], rheumatoid arthritis [9,10], and even complications of pregnancy [11, 12] can be related to certain psychosocial events or to certain individual behavior patterns.Other investigators have taken a second approach, in which the general nature of a person's interactions within the social environment is related to overall morbidity [13][14][15][16][17], and increased morbidity of all types has been related to perception of `...life situations as demanding, threatening and frustrating ' [18].A way to begin resolving this question of causality is to evaluate both the morbidity and the presumed psychosocial risk factors for a common physiological link. One such physiological intermediary appears to be the sympathetic-adrenal medullary system, Elevated levels of the catecholamines and their metabolites have been reported in experimental subjects associated with exposure to various types of psychosocial stimuli [19]. Furthermore, increased catecholamine levels have been reported for several disease states including angina [20], hypertension [21,22] and gastric and duodenal ulcers [23,24]. In addition, elevated catecholamine activity has been suggested as a possible factor in the etiology of diabetes [25,26], and a beta adrenergic mechanism has been proposed as a central element in the develo...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Catecholamine activity and reported morbidity

Gruchow

1976

Journal of Chronic Diseases

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“…This hypothesis is based on observations that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of the NA metabolite MHPG is lower in depressed patients (Gordon and Oliver 1971;Post et al 1973a;Jimerson et al 1975). These studies are somewhat complicated by the fact that MHPG occurs both free and as the sulphate ester, and in these studies only total changes were assessed (Green and Costain 1979).…”

Section: The Monoamine and Neurotransmitter Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is, moreover, some controversy as to the significance of MHPG levels. Although some authors (Goode et al 1973;Deleon-Jones et al 1975) suggested urinary MHPG levels were independent of motor activity, the work of others suggested the opposite (Post et al 1973b). Post et al (1973c), moreover, suggested that the spinal cord contributes to the concentration of CSF MHPG.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…There have, however, been a few reports of normal values of CSF 5HIAA in depression (Roos and Sjostr~m 1969;Nordin et al 1971;Wilk et al 1972). Post et al (1973b) evaluated the effect of psychomotor activity on CSF 5HIAA, and concluded that they were correlated, lowest results being in depression. There has also been disagreement as to the significance of CSF 5HIAA levels.…”

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confidence: 99%

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