Concentration gradients for monoamine metabolites in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid

Abstract

Concentration gradients in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the monoamine metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylglycol (HMPG) were studied in 9 healthy controls and 47 neuropsychiatric patients without diseases causing disturbed CSF circulation. In a serial sampling of the first 24 ml of CSF, steep concentration gradients between the first (0-4th ml) and last (21st-24th ml) portions of CSF were found for HVA (99 +/- 59% increase; p < 0.001) and 5-HIAA (88 +/- 54% increase; p < 0.001), while the concentration gradient was slight for HMPG (11 +/- 7% increase; p < 0.001). The existence of marked concentration gradients for the monoamine metabolites HVA and 5-HIAA gives further evidence for an active transport system for these metabolites and indicates that the lumbar CSF-HVA and 5-HIAA levels reflect the dopamine and serotonin metabolism in the brain. Moreover, the existence of pronounced concentration gradients for HVA and 5-HIAA stresses the importance of making analyses on a standardized volume of CSF.

Cerebrospinal monoamine metabolites and amino acid content in patients with parkinsonian syndrome and rats lesioned with MPP+

“…Indeed, in addition to interindividual differences, the monoamine metabolite content in CSF has been described to vary with age, sex (Hartikainen et al, 1991), circadian rhythms (Nilsson et al, 1992), and the concentration gradient in lumbar CSF (Degrell and Nagy, 1990;Blennow et al, 1993). Whereas several authors have described, in the CSF of patients with PD, a significant decrease in monoamine metabolites, mainly HVA and in some cases 5-HIAA (Chase et al, 1972;Cunha et al, 1983;Tohgi et al, 1993), when we compared the whole results obtained from 33 untreated patients diagnosed as suffering from parkinsonian syndrome with healthy subjects, we were unable to find any significant difference in any of the values examined.…”

Clinical Utility of Monoamine Neurotransmitter Metabolite Analysis in Cerebrospinal Fluid

“…One of the most important factors in the clinical arena is the rostrocaudal gradient for HVA and 5HIAA within the spinal cord (11,19,60,61 ). Values double with approximately every 5-10 mL of CSF drawn.…”

Stereospecific occurrence of a parkinsonism-inducing catechol isoquinoline, n-methyl(R)salsolinol, in the human intraventricular fluid

“…In the CSF from untreated parkinsonian patients and control, DMDHIQ + was not detected, which may be due to gradient of DMDHIQ + from IVF to lumber CSF. Such a gradient was reported in the level of monoamine metabolites, such as HVA and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid, which was considered to indicate the synthesis of the precursor amines and the metabolism in the brain (Blennow et al, 1993). NM(R)Sal level was found to increase at the early stage of the disease and to reduce at the later stage, which may be due to the release of the catechol isoquinoline from dying neurons and the decrease by reduction of DA neurons in the process of the disease.…”