Significance of decreased lumbar CSF levels of HVA and 5-HIAA in Alzheimer's disease.
The monoamine metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenylglycol (HMPG) were determined in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 123 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 57 healthy controls. Despite CSF sampling under strictly standardized conditions, a wide variability in values among both patients and controls was found, as well as fluctuations in repeated samples from individual patients. This suggests that several unknown factors influence the lumbar CSF levels of monoamine metabolites. The AD group showed significantly lower mean levels of HVA (p less than 0.0001) and 5-HIAA (p less than 0.0001) than the control group. A relation between severity of disease and HVA was also found. The widespread neurotransmitter disturbance in AD, together with the nonspecificity of reduced lumbar HVA and 5-HIAA levels, suggests that the changes are nonspecific, secondary to the cerebral degeneration in AD.
Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Gothenburg University, St. Jörgen's Hospital Hisings Backa, Sweden.
K
K
Blennow
A
A
Wallin
C G
CG
Gottfries
A
A
Lekman
I
I
Karlsson
I
I
Skoog
L
L
Svennerholm
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D005260:Female; D006719:Homovanillic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008297:Male; D008734:Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D008734:Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; D006719:Homovanillic Acid