Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T06:16:58.868Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Serum Choline Esterase and Anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

Derek Richter  and
Margaret Lee
Derek Richter
Affiliation:
From Mill Hill Emergency Hospital, London, and the Central Pathological Laboratory, (L.C.C.), West Park Hospital, Epsom
Margaret Lee
Affiliation:
From Mill Hill Emergency Hospital, London, and the Central Pathological Laboratory, (L.C.C.), West Park Hospital, Epsom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Following the work of Dale (1934) and Loewi (1935) on the relationship of choline esterase to the transmission of nervous impulses, a number of studies have been made of the choline esterase activity of the serum in different physiological and pathological conditions. The serum esterase activity varies considerably from one individual to another, but it generally remains very constant in any one individual even over long periods of time; it is believed to be unaffected by changes in diet, exercise, fatigue, or by menstruation. The earlier investigators were unable to correlate the esterase level with any such factor as age, sex, heart rate, blood pressure, weight, or with pathological conditions such as benign or malignant tumours, chronic infections, heart diseases or neurological conditions (v. Verebely, 1936; McGeorge, 1937); they found only a tendency to low esterase activities in acute infections (Hall and Lucas, 1937) and in advanced tuberculosi (Vahlquist, 1935).

In an investigation in which psychopathic patients were included Tod and Jones (1937) and Jones and Stadie (1939) described a number of positive correlations between the serum choline esterase and various clinical conditions. They found a high esterase activity in anxiety states and lowered activity in catatonic stupor, epilepsy, schizophrenia and also in advanced tuberculosis and carcinoma. Antopol et al. (1937, 1938) associated high serum esterase activity with thyrotoxicosis and low activities with liver disease, anaemia and hyperpyrexia. Milhorat (1938), in agreement with Jones and Stadie, attributes the low esterase activities in these conditions to the general debility, but McArdle (1940) concludes that impairment of liver function is the primary cause.

The present work was carried out with the object of obtaining further information as to the relationship between the serum choline esterase activity and anxiety.

Type
Part I.—Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 88 , Issue 372 , July 1942 , pp. 428 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1942 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antopol, W., Tuchman, L., and Schifrin, A. (1937), Proc. Soc. exp. Biol., N.Y., 36, 46.Google Scholar
Antopol, W., Schifrin, A., and Tuchman, L. (1938), ibid., 38, 363.Google Scholar
Antopol, W., Glaubach, S., and Glich, D. (1939), ibid., 42, 679.Google Scholar
Dale, H. H. (1934), Brit. med. J., 1, 835.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A. (1938), Statistical Methods for Research Workers, London, p. 128.Google Scholar
Hall, G. E., and Lucas, C. C. (1937). J. Pharmacol., 59, 34.Google Scholar
Harrison, G. A. (1937), Chemical Methods in Clinical Medicine, London, p. 370.Google Scholar
Jones, M. S., and Stadie, W. C. (1939), Quart. J. exp. Physiol., 29, 63.Google Scholar
Jones, M. S., and Tod, H. (1935), Biochem. J., 29, 2242.Google Scholar
Loewi, O. (1935), Proc. Roy. Soc., b, 118, 299.Google Scholar
McArdle, B. (1940), Quart. J. Med., 9, 107.Google Scholar
McGeorge, M. (1937), Lancet, 1, 69.Google Scholar
Milhorat, A. T. (1938), J. clin. Invest., 17, 649.Google Scholar
Tod, H., and Jones, M. S. (1937), Quart. J. Med., 6, 1.Google Scholar
Vahlquist, B. (1935), Skand. Arch. Physiol., 72, 133.Google Scholar
Verebely, T. von (1936), Klin. Wschr., 15, 11.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.