Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T04:20:53.153Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase in chronic alcoholism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

John L. Sullivan ,
Charles N. Stanfield ,
Saul Schanberg  and
Jesse Cavenar
John L. Sullivan*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Service, Veteran's Administration Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina
Charles N. Stanfield
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Service, Veteran's Administration Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina
Saul Schanberg
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Service, Veteran's Administration Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina
Jesse Cavenar
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Service, Veteran's Administration Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr J. L. Sullivan, Psychiatry Service, Veteran's Administration Hospital, 508 Fulton Street, Durham, North Carolina 27705, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

Previous reports suggest that high serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) activity may be associated with vulnerability to alcoholism. However, there are also contradictory studies in the literature. Therefore we measured serum DBH in chronic alcoholics followed for 12 months in a treatment programme after psychiatric hospitalization for acute alcoholism. Mean serum DBH activity in the alcoholics was unchanged from controls at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months following hospital discharge. These data imply that serum DBH activity does not provide a useful metabolic screen for vulnerability to chronic alcoholism. However, prospective studies of patients at high risk to develop alcoholism will be helpful in further clarification of this issue.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , August 1978 , pp. 505 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (2nd edn), p. 45. (1968). American Psychiatric Association: Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Ewing, J. A. & Rouse, B. A. (1974). Alcohol susceptibility and plasma dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity. Research Communications in Chemical Pathology and Pharmacology 8, 551–554.Google ScholarPubMed
Ewing, J. A., Rouse, B. A. & Mills, K. C. (1975). Dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity as a predictor of response to alcohol. Japanese Journal of Studies on Alcoholism 10, 61–69.Google Scholar
Ewing, J. A., Rouse, B. A. & Mueller, R. A. (1976). Alcohol as a euphoriant drug: searching for a neurochemical basis. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 273, 159–168.Google Scholar
Feighner, J. P., Robins, S. & Guze, S. B. (1972). Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Arichives of General Psychiatry 26, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gellhorn, E. & Kiely, W. F. (1973). Autonomic nervous system in psychiatric disorder. In Biological Psychiatry (ed. Mendels, J.), pp. 235–262. John Wiley and Sons: New York.Google Scholar
Goldstein, L., Freedman, L. S. & Ebstein, R. P. (1974). Human serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase: relationship to sympathetic activity in physiological and pathological states. In Advances in Biochemical Psychopharmacology (ed. Usdin, E.), pp. 105–120. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Kaig, L. (1960). Alcoholism in Twins. Stockholm, Almquist and Wiskell: New York.Google Scholar
Kaufman, S. & Friedman, S. (1965). Dopamine-β-hydroxylase. Pharmacological Reviews 17, 71–110.Google ScholarPubMed
Lake, R. C., Ziegler, M. C. & Murphy, D. L. (1977). Increased norepinephrine levels and decreased dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in primary autism. Archives of General Psychiatry 34, 553–556.Google Scholar
Markianos, E. S., Nystrom, K. & Reichel, H. (1976). Serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase in psychiatric patients and normals. Effects of D-amphetamine and haloperidol. Psychopharmacology 50, 259–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meltzer, H. Y., Hyong, W. Cho & Carroll, B. J. (1976). Serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in the affective psychoses and schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 33, 585–591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagatsu, T. & Udenfriend, S. (1972). Photometric assay of dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in human blood. Clinical Chemistry 18 (II), 980–983.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ogihara, T., Nugent, C. & Shen, S. (1975). Serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in parents and children. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 85, 566–673.Google Scholar
Potter, L. T. & Axelrod, J. (1963 a). Subcellular localization of catecholamines in tissues of the rat. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 142, 291–298.Google ScholarPubMed
Potter, L. T. & Axelrod, J. (1963 b). Properties of norepinephrine storage particles of the rat heart. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 142, 299–305.Google ScholarPubMed
Ross, S. B., Wetterberg, L. & Myred, M. (1973). Genetic control of plasma dopamine-β-hydroxylase. Life Sciences 12, 529–532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schanberg, S. M., Stone, R. A. & Kirshner, N. (1974). Plasma dopamine-β-hydroxylase; a possible aid in the study and evaluation of hypertension. Science 183, 523–524.Google Scholar
Schuckit, M. A., Goodwin, D. A. & Winokur, G. (1972). A study of alcoholism in half-siblings. American Journal of Psychiatry 128, 122–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sicuteri, F., Buffoni, F. & Anselmi, B. (1970). An enzyme defect (MAO) on the platelets in migraine. Research and Clinical Studies in Headache 3, 245–251.Google ScholarPubMed
Viveros, O. H., Argueros, L. & Kirschner, N. (1968). Release of catecholamines and dopamine-β-hydroxylase from the adrenal medulla. Life Sciences 7, 609–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weinshilboum, R. M., Raymond, F. A. & Elveback, L. R. (1973). Serum dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity: siblingsibling correlation. Science 181, 943–945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wetterberg, L., Alberg, H. & Ross, S. B. (1972). Plasma dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in hypertension and various neuropsychiatric disorders. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation 30, 283–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Winokur, G., Reich, T. & Rimmer, J. (1970). Alcoholism: diagnosis and familial psychiatric illness in 250 alcoholic probands. Archives of General Psychiatry 23, 104–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolff, P. H. (1972). Ethnic differences in alcohol sensitivity. Science 175, 449–450.Google Scholar