Reduced platelet MAO activity and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders

Association Between Bipolar Disorder and Monoamine Oxidase A Gene Polymorphisms: Results of a Multicenter Study

“…Our finding of an association between MAOA and bipolar disorder is compatible with the demonstration of abnormalities in serotonergic neurotransmission (9)(10)(11)(12) and abnormal levels of MAO activity (39)(40)(41)(42) in mood disorders.…”

Human Behavior Genetics

“…Schlesser et al (1979Schlesser et al ( , 1980 fo und a distinction between three subtypes of UPD patients in terms of age of onset and serum-cortisol response to dexamethasone suppression, suggesting that UPD may be three or more separate illnesses which differ in clinical course, mode of inheritance, and underlying neurochemistry. Further support fo r this relationship has come from Pandey et al (1980), who showed that fi rst-degree relatives of BPD patients having both incapacitat ing manic and depressive states had lower mean MAO activity than rela tives of patients with other affective disorders or having no history of affective disorders. Genetic fa ctors contribute to the variability in the activity of monoamine oxidase (MAO), an enzyme that metabolizes amines in the brain.…”

Alcoholism and Suicide

“…There has been a great deal of interest in the strategy of measuring MAO levels in blood platelets as a possible indicator of catecholamine metabolism in the brain. Several studies have found low platelet MAO levels both in alcoholics and in their blood relatives (Pandey, Dorus, Shaughnessy, Gaviria, Val, & Davis, 1980; Sullivan, Stanfield, Maltbie, Hammett, & Cavenar, 1978; Sullivan, Stanfield, Schanberg, & Cavenar, 1978). Takahashi, Tani, and Yamane (1976) studied MAO activity in the blood platelets of 50 alcoholics and reported a rebound of low platelet MAO levels in the weeks after alcohol withdrawal that was more pronounced among the patients with delirium tremens than among patients who had exhibited no marked withdrawal symptomatology.…”