Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:1141-1148
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Diagnostic subgroups of affective disorders and their urinary excretion of catecholamine metabolities
F Deleon-Jones, JW Maas, H Dekirmenjian and J Sanchez
Previous reports have indicated that some depressed patients excrete less
than normal quantities of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl glycol (MHPG). The
authors present data indicating that a subgroup of depressed patients who
excrete less than normal quantities of MHPG may be identified by the
application of explicit clinical criteria. They found no significant
difference in the excretion of normetanephrine (NM), metanephrine (M), and
3-methoxy-4-hydroxymandelic acid (VMA) among any of the diagnostic
subgroups or between each patient group and a healthy comparison group.
However, depressed patients diagnosed as having primary affective disorder
and bipolar illness excreted significantly less MHPG than did the healthy
comparison group.
