ABSTRACT
The authors report, as compared to healthy subjects, a higher daily excretion and a higher urinary variations of homovanillic acid (HVA) for schizophrenic chronic paranoid patients (patients with positive symptomatology predominating, CROW,s type I). Inversely, a lower HVA excretion and probably an inversion of the circadian rhythm of urinary HVA were found for schizophrenic chronic undifferentiated patients (patients with negative symptomatology predominating, CROW's type II). These results have to be confirmed by the study of a greater number of patients and the measure, for comparison among themselves, of other precursors and metabolites of monoamines.
Subject(s)
Homovanillic Acid/urine , Schizophrenia/physiopathology , Adult , Biological Clocks , Chronic Disease , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Schizophrenia/urine , Schizophrenia, Paranoid/physiopathology , Schizophrenia, Paranoid/urineSubject(s)
Homovanillic Acid/urine , Phenylacetates/urine , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Chromatography, Gas/methods , Female , Homovanillic Acid/isolation & purification , Humans , Infant , Male , Mass SpectrometryABSTRACT
A sensitive and specific method for the determination of urinary homovanillic acid by gas chromatography with a capillary silica fused flexible column, WCOT, SE 30 phase, is described. Homovanillyl alcohol is used as internal standard. OH and COOH functions are derivatized in a one step reaction with the mixture heptafluorobutyric anhydride - trifluoroethanol (4:1). A linear response of the detector (FID) is obtained with injected amounts of HVA ranging from 0 to more than 1000 ng (standard injected = 400 ng). The smallest detectable level of HVA is about 1 ng, corresponding to urinary levels near 0.1 mg/24 h, or 0.5 micromole/24 h. Correlations between this method and a fluorimetric determination of HVA are studied. Usual values in normal subjects are given.
