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Catechol-O-Methyl Transferase Activity in Patients with Depressive Illness and Anxiety States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ralph Shulman ,
John Griffiths  and
Patricia Diewold
Ralph Shulman
Affiliation:
Vancouver General Hospital; and Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
John Griffiths
Affiliation:
Veterans' Hospital, La Jolla, California
Patricia Diewold
Affiliation:
Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC
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Summary

Erythrocyte catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) activity was studied in 65 patients with depressive illness and anxiety states. A hypothesis that measurement of this enzyme might have some value as an aid to diagnosis and as an index of clinical recovery has not been confirmed. In patients with endogenous depression, agitated subjects had COMT levels significantly higher than normal (P < ·01) and retarded subjects had levels significantly lower than normal (P < ·02). These observations are congruent with some reports of high and low urinary MHPG excretion in patients with depression. Further data correlating COMT assays with catecholamine metabolites in depressed patients may reveal homogeneous biochemical subgroups which could serve as a guide to rational therapy.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 132 , Issue 2 , February 1978 , pp. 133 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1978 

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