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Genetics of Platelet MAO Activity in Discordant Schizophrenic and Normal Twins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Michael A. Reveley ,
Adrianne M. Reveley ,
Christine A. Clifford  and
Robin M. Murray
Michael A. Reveley
Affiliation:
Genetics Section, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Adrianne M. Reveley
Affiliation:
Genetics Section, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Christine A. Clifford
Affiliation:
Genetics Section, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Robin M. Murray
Affiliation:
Genetics Section, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
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Summary

Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was compared in four age and sex-matched groups: monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for schizophrenia, normal MZ twins, normal dizygotic (DZ) twins and unrelated individuals. Among the twin groups, schizophrenic and normal, there was a remarkably consistent degree of genetic control amounting to 70–80 per cent of the variation in activity. The mean platelet MAO activity of the schizophrenic twins was significantly lower than that of controls, but not than that of their psychiatrically well, neuroleptic-free cotwins; indeed the correlation for the MZ twins discordant for schizophrenia was almost exactly the same as that for the normal MZs. Thus, lower platelet MAO activity in schizophrenia, where it is found, is genetically modulated and not the result of the illness or its treatment.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 142 , Issue 6 , June 1983 , pp. 560 - 565
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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