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Platelet and Plasma Amine Oxidase Activity in Alcoholic Individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Leslie F. Major  and
Dennis L. Murphy
Leslie F. Major
Affiliation:
Clinical Neuropharmacology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Clinical Center, 10-3S229, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, U.S.A.
Dennis L. Murphy
Affiliation:
Clinical Neuropharmacology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Clinical Center, 10-3S229, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, U.S.A.
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Summary

Platelet and plasma amine oxidase activity was determined in a group of 99 healthy male (active duty military) alcoholics referred for hospital treatment who had been abstinent from alcohol for 2–10 days, and compared with that of a control military group. Platelet MAO activity was slightly but significantly lower in the alcoholic group. Both groups were significantly lower in MAO activity compared to a group of 42 non-military controls. In the alcoholic group there was no correlation between platelet MAO and severity or chronicity of drinking, nor was there evidence of iron deficiency to account for the lowered MAO activity. When the alcoholic and military control groups were split at the median, the first degree relatives of both the ‘low’ MAO alcoholics and the ‘low’ MAO military controls had a higher incidence of alcoholism than did the relatives of both ‘high’ MAO subgroups. No personal or family history data of alcohol-related problems were available on the non-military control group.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 132 , Issue 6 , June 1978 , pp. 548 - 554
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1978 

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