title: CSF monoamine metabolites and MRI brain volumes in alcohol dependence.
abstract: Correlations between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of monoamine metabolites (MAM) and brain structure have been described in schizophrenia, but not in alcoholism. To investigate the relationship between monoaminergic transmission and brain structure in alcoholism, the metabolites of dopamine (homovanillic acid, HVA), norepinephrenine (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol, MHPG) and serotonin (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, 5-HIAA) were measured in lumbar CSF in 54 alcohol-dependent patients and 20 healthy subjects. The volumes of the cerebrum, total grey and white matter, total and ventricular CSF, left and right hippocampus, and corpus callosum area were measured with MRI. MHPG and age were positively correlated in alcoholic women. The MAM concentrations were not significantly correlated with the MRI volumes in the subject categories. There were no differences in MAM across subjects defined by diagnosis and gender, age of onset of alcoholism or comorbidity of psychiatric disorders. Total CSF, cerebrum, and white and grey matter tissue volumes differed between patients and healthy subjects. The greatest difference was the white matter reduction in alcoholic women. In alcoholic women and men, monoaminergic neurotransmission measured by the CSF MAM HVA, MHPG, and 5-HIAA is not significantly correlated with the size of different brain structures.
authors.affiliation: Section on Electrophysiology and Brain Imaging, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1256, USA. ingrid.agartz@cns.ki.se
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Agartz
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shoaf
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Rawlings
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Momenan
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hommer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000378:metabolism*; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006719:Homovanillic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008734:Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008875:Middle Aged; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D012701:Serotonin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D012701:Serotonin; D008734:Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol; D009638:Norepinephrine; D006719:Homovanillic Acid