Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C E Coffey.
The authors describe a 42-year-old man who developed "on-off" episodes and for whom lithium carbonate proved an effective treatment. They speculate that the predominant effect of lithium in the "on-off" syndrome is to prevent L-dopa desensitization of the dopamine receptor.
While genetics may be the major determinant of monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, many hormonal, dietary, and even immunological factors may also be important. Knowledge of these factors may be helpful not only in understanding individual variation in MAO levels, but in the application of platelet MAO activity as a clinical laboratory aid.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Reduced platelet MAO activity has been previously reported as a biochemical marker for a subgroup of psychiatric patients, including some chronic schizophrenics. As tryptamine metabolism appears to be sensitive to alterations in MAO activity, urinary tryptamine excretion was measured in chronic schizophrenics with low platelet MAO activity, chronic schizophrenics with normal platelet MAO activity, and age-matched and sex-matched controls. The increased urinary tryptamine excretion observed in chronic schizophrenics with low platelet MAO activity may reflect a pathophysiologic mechanism associated with low MAO activity.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.