Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:1819-1820
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Low plasma homovanillic acid levels in recently abstinent alcoholic men
MK Fulton, G Kramer, FG Moeller, Y Chae, PG Isbell and F Petty
Chemical Addiction Program, VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To explore dopaminergic mechanisms in alcohol dependence, the
authors measured plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) in recently detoxified
alcohol-dependent men. METHOD: Plasma HVA was measured in 83 male patients
with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence who had maintained documented
abstinence for at least 3 weeks and in 69 healthy male comparison subjects.
RESULTS: The alcoholic patients as a group had significantly lower levels
of plasma HVA than the comparison subjects. This difference was not
influenced by any other measured covariate, including a family history of
alcohol dependence. CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that factors such as
alcohol dependence should be taken into account in future studies of plasma
HVA.
