Abstract
As part of a multidimensional study of cerebrospinal fluid biogenic amine metabolites in schizophrenia, the relationship between neurochemical measures and psychopathology assessed using the Psychiatric Symptom Assessment Scale (PSAS) was analyzed. In a group of 20 unmedicated patients, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) was a predictor of symptom severity in a stepwise multiple regression model. Values of 3-hydroxykynurenine and metanephrine in the unmedicated state predicted clinical response in a stepwise multiple regression model, as measured by improvement in PSAS mean item score following 6 weeks on a standard dose of neuroleptic. In a subgroup of 14 patients in whom both off- and on-medication concentrations of cerebrospinal fluid biogenic amines and metabolites were measured, change in 3-hydroxykynurenine predicted clinical outcome in a multiple regression model. These findings point toward the need to examine the role of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 251-258 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Psychiatry Research |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1994 |
Keywords
- Dopamine
- Psychiatric Symptom Assessment Scale
- kynurenine
- norepinephrine
- serotonin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Biological Psychiatry