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  • Title: Monoamine oxidase and homovanillic acid in boys with predispositions to substance abuse.
    Author: Gabel S, Stadler J, Bjorn J, Shindledecker R, Bowden CL.
    Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res; 1994 Oct; 18(5):1137-42. PubMed ID: 7847596.
    Abstract:
    Both dopaminergic dysregulation and abnormalities in monoamine oxidase (MAO) have been postulated as etiological factors in substance abuse. This study assessed whether MAO activity differed in sons of substance-abusing fathers compared with sons of nonsubstance-abusing fathers. It also assessed the levels of homovanillic acid (HVA), the metabolite of dopamine, and MAO in a group of substance-using/-abusing boys compared with peers without this history in the same setting. Sixty-five boys admitted to a residential center were evaluated on blood tests for HVA and MAO, and on a series of diagnostic instruments and questionnaires designed to elicit information about parental substance abuse and about the subject's own substance use/abuse. The results indicated tentatively that younger (< 12.0 years) sons of substance-abusing fathers had higher levels of MAO than younger sons of nonsubstance-abusing fathers. Levels of MAO in older (> or = 12.0 years) sons of substance-abusing and nonsubstance-abusing fathers did not differ. Boys with histories of significant use/abuse of substances themselves had significantly higher MAO levels and significantly lower HVA levels than peers of the same age without substance use/abuse histories.
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