James C. Garbutt

Urinary excretion of bioterin and neopterin in psychiatric disorders

Levels of urinary neopterin and biopterin were determined in patients having a diagnosis of schizophrenia, unipolar depression, or bipolar depression. Both neopterin and biopterin levels were significantly higher in the urine of patients with unipolar depression than in the urine of the control group. Subclassification of patients into primary and secondary depression demonstrated a significant elevation of urinary biopterin in both groups, whereas urinary neopterin was elevated only in those patients with primary depression. In patients with bipolar depression, neopterin excretion was elevated, but biopterin excretion did not differ from controls. No significant differences were found in schizophrenic patients.

The TRH test in patients with borderline personality disorder

Fifteen patients with a primary diagnosis of borderline personality disorder were studied with the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) test. Twelve carried the additional diagnosis of depression, substance abuse, or both. A blunted thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) response to TRH was found in seven patients, two of whom were neither depressed nor had the additional diagnosis of depression and/or substance abuse. TSH blunting was unrelated to such factors as thyroid status, serum cortisol, weight, height, or body surface. Since TSH blunting occurs in about 25% of patients with major depression but not in schizophrenia, the findings suggest that some patients with borderline personality disorder share a neuroendocrine abnormality with some affective disorder patients.

Cerebrospinal fluid hydroxylase cofactor in schizophrenia

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of pterin cofactor were measured in off-medication schizophrenic patients and normal control subjects as one aspect of monoamine physiology in schizophrenia. Pterin cofactor is essential for the hydroxylation of several substances including tyrosine, the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of dopamine and norepinephrine. No significant differences were found. Platelet monoamine oxidase activity correlated significantly with pterin levels in male schizophrenic and in female control subjects.

Effects of TA-0910, a Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone Analog, on Alcohol Intake in Alcohol-Preferring Rats

Alcoholism, perhaps the oldest addictive illness, remains a serious problem affecting nearly all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Its genetic and neurobiologie origins are complex, and many different neuronal systems are likely to be involved in the processes leading to its development and maintenance.1,2 Various aspects of excessive drinking behavior have been studied in rodent models developed through selective breeding of animals that showed spontaneous preference for alcohol. Strains of rats bred in this manner voluntarily ingest alcohol in quantities sufficient to produce physical dependence and are considered to model some aspects of human alcoholism. One such model is the well-known strain of alcohol-preferring (P) rats developed by Li and colleagues.3,4Using this model, behavioral and pharmacological evidence has been derived linking excessive alcohol consumption to altered serotonergic, dopaminergic, and GABAergic systems.5