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Hormonal Effects of Apomorphine in Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

I. N. Ferrier ,
E. C. Johnstone  and
T. J. Crow
I. N. Ferrier
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3UJ
E. C. Johnstone
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3UJ
T. J. Crow
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3UJ
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Summary

The hormonal effects of apomorphine, a direct-acting dopamine receptor agonist, in schizophrenic patients are of interest in view of the therapeutic efficacy of dopamine receptor antagonists. In this study, apomorphine (0.75 mg s.c.) and placebo were administered to unmedicated acute and chronic schizophrenics and controls. Apomorphine-induced prolactin suppression did not discriminate between the groups. However, an inverse relationship between basal prolactin levels and the severity of positive symptoms was detected in the patients with acute schizophrenia, consistent with a role for dopamine in the genesis of these symptoms. Growth hormone increments after apomorphine administration were blunted in the chronic schizophrenic patients, particularly those with ‘negative’ symptoms. It is argued that this blunting is not due to previous neuroleptic therapy and may represent evidence of structural change in the hypothalamus in this group of patients.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 4 , April 1984 , pp. 349 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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