title: Monoamine oxidase-B activity in alcohol withdrawal of smokers: is there any relationship with aggressiveness?
abstract: There is a considerable inconsistency in terms of the association between alcoholism and alterations in monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the changes in platelet MAO-B activity throughout the alcohol withdrawal period and whether or not MAO-B activity differed between patients with high- and low-aggression tendency. We assayed platelet MAO-B levels spectrophotometrically in 22 male inpatients with alcohol dependence in their first and fourth weeks of withdrawal and in 20 healthy controls. Patients were divided into two high- and low-aggression subgroups according to scores obtained in a Brown-Goodwin Assessment for Life History of Aggression. Our data revealed that the significantly lower platelet MAO-B activity observed during the first week of alcohol withdrawal in patients, compared to controls, did not continue in the fourth week, and that there was no relationship between aggressiveness and MAO activity. These results suggest that low platelet MAO activity may be a state marker of alcohol withdrawal period or a result of high alcohol consumption rather than a trait marker of alcoholism.
authors: Erciyes University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Talas Road, 38039-Kayseri, Turkey.
authors: Ertugrul
authors: E
authors: Esel
authors: Kader
authors: K
authors: Kose
authors: M Tayfun
authors: MT
authors: Turan
authors: Mustafa
authors: M
authors: Basturk
authors: Seher
authors: S
authors: Sofuoglu
authors: Suat Sabri
authors: SS
authors: Aslan
authors: Ihsan
authors: I
authors: Yabanoglu
authors: Ali Saffet
authors: AS
authors: Gonul
authors: Cevat
authors: C
authors: Yazici
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000097:blood*; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase