Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R E Becker

Publications and source records attributed to R E Becker.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Platelet monoamine oxidase activity in schizophrenic patients.

The authors studied platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity in 29 schizophrenic inpatients and 26 schizophrenic outpatients during a 4-week double-blind trial of chlorpromazine with imipramine or thiothixene with placebo. The found that significantly more schizophrenic patients than normal control subjects had low platelet MAO activity after 4 weeks. Outpatients with low MAO activity were distinguished by increased behavioral activity and reduced social apathy. Inpatients with low MAO activity were distinguished by severity of illness and symptoms. Hallucinations were significantly more frequent among patients with low MAO activity. The authors suggest that platelet MAO activity might decline in some actively schizophrenic patients as part of the psychotic process.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1975

3-Methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenylglycol sulfate (MOPEG-SO4) in ventricular and cisternal cerebrospinal fluid of dogs.

Cerebrospinal fluid was collected from the lateral ventricles and cisternal space from beagle dogs under light pentobarbital anesthesia. Homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglyco-sulfate (MOPEG-SO4) levels in the liquor taken from these two regions were evaluated, and the ventricular-cisternal ratio (V/C) was calculated for each monoamine metabolite. A marked similarity in the V/C ratio of 6:1 for 5-HIAA and 5:1 for MOPEG-SO4, as compared to a much higher V/C ratio of 18:1 for HVA, perhaps reflects the more diffuse distribution of norepinephrine and serotonin, precursor amines, as compared to dopamine in the CNS and also emphasizes the probable existence of an active transport mechanism for the removal of MOPEG-SO4, as has been well documented for 5-HIAA and HVA.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Blood platelet monoamine oxidase activity in anergic schizophrenics.

Blood platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was evaluated in twenty-four anergic, schizophrenic outpatients during a double-blind study comparing a chlorpromazine-imipramine combination to thio-thixeneplacebo. Platelet MAO activity was determined on blood samples drawn after a two-week drug-free washout and once weekly over a four-week on-drug period. Schizophrenic patients could be classified according to their blood platelet MAO activity into either a low-MAO or a high-MAO group. In neither group of this population of schizophrenics did blood platelet MAO activity correlate with any of the primary or secondary symptoms of schizophrenia. Ten alcoholics and seven volunteer non-patients could similarly be divided into low- and high-MAO groups. Mean blood platelet MAO activity for these groups was not significantly different from the mean values of the low and high-MAO groups of the schizophrenics. These findings do not support published reports of low blood platelet activity as a genetic marker for schizophrenia. Discriminate function analysis of symptomatology ratings at baseline was used to characterize the low- and high-MAO schizophrenic patient groups. Individuals in the low-MAO group were distinguished by hyperactivity, anergia and sleep disturbance.

Alcoholism↗