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The post-mortem brain concentrations of dopamine (DA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) were determined in 16 parts of the brain from patients with no history of neurologic or psychiatric illness. Fifteen men and nine women, with a mean age of 61.0 +/- 18.7 years (range 23--92 years) were included. They had died from either ischaemic heart disease or cancer. In the post-mortem investigation several factors were controlled: age, time between death and autopsy, time between autopsy and chemical analysis and storage time (-20 degrees C). The DA concentrations in the different brain areas were found to be positively intercorrelated, especially those in the basal ganglia, hippocampus and the mesencephalon. The HVA concentrations measured in various cortical structures were also positively intercorrelated. In several regions of the brain there was a significant inverse correlation between the DA and HVA concentrations. The DA and HVA concentrations did not differ according to sex, but age had a marked influence on the DA concentration. Significant decrease with age was observed in the nucleus caudatus, globus pallidus, mesencephalon, hippocampus and in the cortex gyrus hippocampus. These findings are discussed in relation to the effect of aging neurons. A review of human post-mortem investigations on DA and HVA concentrations is also presented.

Different nuclei and regions of the brain from patients who had committed suicide and from controls were analysed for their content of monoamine and monoamine metabolites. There was a post mortem breakdown of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) which could be correlated to the time elapsed between the occurrence of death and autopsy. Homovanillic acid (HVA) and the monoamines did not decrease post mortem during the time observed (6-148 hours). There was no significant correlation between age and chemical variables in this investigation. There were no significant group differences between suicides and controls concerning dopamine, noradrenaline, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and HVA, 5-HIAA levels were significantly lower in the suicide group in six out of eight parts of the brain investigated. It was, however, also demonstrated that there was a longer time elapse between the occurrence of death and autopsy in the suicide group. The suicides came on average 48 hours later to autopsy than the controls. As there was a post mortem decrease of 5-HIAA, this time variable had to be kept constant when group differences were analysed. When the influence of this time variable was eliminated there were no longer any differences between suicides and controls. According to this investigation, there seem to be no differences in levels of monoamines and their metabolites between suicides and controls.

Baseline concentrations of homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) and MHPG in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were determined in 67 lobotomized and 30 non-lobotomized patients with chronic schizophrenia. In addition, in 69 of these patients the degree of brain atrophy was assessed by a pneumoencephalographic (PEG) technique. There were no significant differences in the concentrations of the monoamine metabolites in the CSF between the two patient groups studied despite the fact that the group of lobotomized schizophrenics had significantly more central and cortical brain atrophy than the group of nonlobotomized schizophrenic patients. The amine metabolite levels were also unrelated to the subtype of schizophrenia, duration of illness, or degree of mental incapacitation.

5HIAA and HVA were determined in successive samples of CSF withdrawn at the lumbar and cisternal levels in connection with gas myelographic examinations in 16 patients. The mean of 5-HIAA in the first cisternal samples were 83 ng/ml (n equal to 8) and of HVA 143 NG/ML (N equal to 7). A sharp increase in the concentration of both metabolites, but particulary of HVA, was seen in successive lumbar samples. The ratio of cisternal/lumbar 5-HIAA was 3/1, and of HVA 10/1 in one patient in whom lumbar and cisternal CSF were obtained with 2 weeks' interval. The concentrations of monoamine metabolites in CSF obtained at lumbar puncture are thus highly dependent on the amount of fluid withdrawn. This fact should be taken into consideration when different materials are compared.