Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-lrblm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-26T07:37:21.199Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Platelet Monoamine Oxidase in Schizophrenia and Manic-Depressive Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Robert H. Belmaker ,
Kirsten Ebbesen ,
Richard Ebstein  and
Ranan Rimon
Robert H. Belmaker*
Affiliation:
The Department of Research, Jerusalem Mental Health Centre—Ezrat Nashim, POB 140, Jerusalem, Israel
Kirsten Ebbesen
Affiliation:
The Department of Research, Jerusalem Mental Health Centre—Ezrat Nashim, POB 140, Jerusalem, Israel
Richard Ebstein
Affiliation:
The Department of Research, Jerusalem Mental Health Centre—Ezrat Nashim, POB 140, Jerusalem, Israel
Ranan Rimon
Affiliation:
The Department of Research, Jerusalem Mental Health Centre—Ezrat Nashim, POB 140, Jerusalem, Israel
*
Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr Belmaker.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is an important enzyme in the catabolism of brain biogenic amines. Platelet MAO has been reported to be moderately reduced in manic-depressive patients and markedly reduced in schizophrenic patients. This enzyme's activity has been shown to be under a large degree of genetic control and has been proposed as a ‘genetic marker’ in schizophrenia. A transcultural replication of the finding of low platelet MAO in schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness was carried out at the Jerusalem Mental Health Centre. Manic-depressive patients were found to have higher platelet MAO activity than schizophrenic patients, as reported previously, but control individuals were as low as the schizophrenic patients. It is unlikely that platelet MAO activity is a transculturally-valid marker for schizophrenia.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 129 , Issue 3 , September 1976 , pp. 227 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Kopin, I. J. (1964) Storage and metabolism of catecholamines: The role of monoamine oxidase. Pharmac. Rev., 16, 179.Google ScholarPubMed
2. Murphy, D. L., Belmaker, R. & Wyatt, R. J. (1974) Monoamine oxidase in schizophrenia and other behavioral disorders. J. psychiat. Res., 11, 221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Nies, A., Robinson, D. S., Lamborn, K. R. & Lammpert, R. P. (1973) Genetic control of platelet and plasma monoamine oxidase activity. Arch. gen. Psychiat., 28, 834.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Murphy, D. L. & Wyatt, R. J. (1972) Reduced MAO activity in blood platelets from schizophrenic patients. Nature, 239, 225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Murphy, D. L. & Weiss, R. (1972) Reduced monoamine oxidase activity in blood platelets from bipolar depressed patients. Amer. J. Psychiat., 128, 11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Wyatt, R. J., Murphy, D. L., Belmaker, R., Cohen, S., Donnelly, G. H. & Pollin, W. (1973) Reduced monoamine oxidase in platelets: A possible genetic marker for vulnerability to schizophrenia. Science, 179, 916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Meltzer, H. Y. & Stahl, S. M. (1974) Platelet monoamine oxidase activity and substrate preferences in schizophrenic patients. Res. Comm. in Chem. Path, and Pharmacol., 7, 419.Google ScholarPubMed
8. Carpenter, W. T. Jr., Murphy, D. L. & Wyatt, R.J. (1975) Platelet monoamine oxidase activity in acute schizophrenia. Amer. J. Psychiat., 132, 438.Google ScholarPubMed
9. Friedman, E., Shopsin, B., Sathananthan, G. & Gershon, S. (1974) Blood platelet monoamine oxidase activity in psychiatric patients. Amer. J. Psychiat., 131, 1392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Feighner, J. P., Robins, E., Guze, S. B., Woodruff, R. A. Jr., Winokur, G. & Munoz, R. (1972) Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Arch. gen. Psychiat., 26, 5763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11. Murphy, D. L., Donnelly, C. H., Belmaker, R., Carlson, H., Baker, M. & Wyatt, R. J. Influence of age, sex and some drugs and hormones on human platelet monoamine oxidase activity. In preparation.Google Scholar
12. Brecher, G. & Cronkite, E. P. (1950) Morphology and enumeration of human blood platelets. J. appl. Physiol., 3, 365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Wurtman, R. J. & Axelrod, J. (1963) A sensitive and specific assay for the estimation of monoamine oxidase. Biochem. Pharmac., 12, 1439.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Robinson, D. S., Lovenberg, W., Keiser, H. & Sjoerdsma, J. (1968) Effects of drugs on human blood platelet and plasma amine oxidase activity in vitr. and in vivo. Biochem. Pharmac., 17, 109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Lowry, O. H., Rosenbrough, M. J., Farr, A. L. & Randall, R. J. (1951) Protein measurement with the folin phenol reagent. J. biol. Chem., 193, 265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Murphy, D. L. Personal communications.Google Scholar
17. Bockar, J., Roth, R. & Heninger, G. R., (1975) Increased platelet monoamine oxidase activity during lithium carbonate therapy. Life Science. 15, 2109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Sandler, M., Carter, S. B., Cuthbert, M. F. & Pare, C. M. B. (1975) Is there an increase in monoamine-oxidase activity in depressive illness? Lancet, i, 1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Goodwin, F. K., Murphy, D. L., Dunner, D. L. & Bunney, W. E. (1972) Lithium response in unipolar versus bipolar depression. Amer. J. Psychiat., 129, 76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20. Robinson, D. S., Davis, J. M., Nies, A., Ravaris, G. L. & Sylwester, D. (1971) Relation of sex and aging to monoamine oxidase activity of human brain, plasma and platelets. Arch. gen. Psychiat., 24, 536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Schwartz, M., Aikens, A. M. & Wyatt, R. J. (1974) Monoamine oxidase in brains from schizophrenic and mentally normal individuals. Psychopharmacologia, 38, 319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22. Domino, E. F., Krause, R. R. & Bowers, J. (1973) Various enzymes involved with putative transmitters. Arch. gen. Psychiat., 29, 195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Wise, C. D., Baden, M. M. & Stein, L. (1974) Postmortem measurement of enzymes in human brain: Evidence of a central noradrenergic deficit in schizophrenia. J. psychiat. Res., 11, 185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24. Youdim, M. B. H. (1973) Multiple forms of mitochondrial monoamine oxidase. Brit. med. Bull., 29, 120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Collins, G. G. S. & Sandler, M. (1971) Human blood platelet monoamine oxidase. Biochem. Pharmac., 20, 289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26. Houslay, M. D. & Tipton, K. F. (1973) The nature of the electrophoretically separable multiple forms of rat liver monoamine oxidase. Bioehem. J., 135, 173.Google ScholarPubMed
27. Yoshida, A. (1973) Hemolytic anemia and G6PD deficiency. Science, 179, 532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28. Rosenthal, D. (1972) Genetic Theory and Abnormal Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.