Skeletal Muscle MAO Activity in the Major Psychoses: Relationship with Platelet and Plasma MAO Activities

Herbert Y. Meltzer*, Ramesh C. Arora

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

The skeletal muscle MAO activity of schizophrenics and patients with bipolar and unipolar affective psychoses was lower than that of normal controls. Both platelet and plasma MAO actvity was significantly lower in the schizophrenics and patients with undiagnosed psychoses than in the normal controls. platelet and plasma MAO activities were not correlated with skeletal muscle MAO activity. Both human platelet and skeletal muscle MAO are type B MAO and have similar kinetic constants. The decrease in skeletal muscle MAO activity in various types of psychotic patients is consistent with previous suggestions based on platelet studies that low MAO activity may be a nonspecific factor contributing to the development of different forms of psychopathology. Since total skeletal muscle MAO activity is the largest source of MAO in the body, it is possible that the decrease in muscle MAO activity may lead to excessive quantities of biogenic amines that could adversely affect neural activity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)333-339
Number of pages7
JournalArchives of general psychiatry
Volume37
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1980

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Skeletal Muscle MAO Activity in the Major Psychoses: Relationship with Platelet and Plasma MAO Activities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this