Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:23:34.660Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brambilla, F., Bellodi, L., Negri, F., Smeraldi, E. & Malagoli, G. (1979) Dopamine receptor sensitivity in the hypothalamus of chronic schizophrenics after haloperidol therapy: growth hormone and prolactin response to stimuli. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 4, 329–39.Google Scholar
Brown, G. M., Seggie, J. A., Chambers, J. W. & Ettigi, P. G. (1978) Psychoneuroendocrinology and growth hormones: a review. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 3, 131–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. M., Verhaegen, H., van Wimersma, T. B. & Brugmans, J. (1982) Endocrine effects of domperidone: a peripheral blocking agent. Clinical Endocrinology, 15, 275–83.Google Scholar
Cleghorn, J. M., Brown, G. M., Brown, P. J., Kaplan, R. D. & Mitton, J. (1983a) Growth hormone responses to graded doses of apomorphine HCl in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 18, 887–903.Google Scholar
Cleghorn, J. M., Brown, G. M., Brown, P. J., Kaplan, R. D., Dermer, S. W., MacCrimmon, D. J. & Milton, J. (1983b) Growth hormone response to apomorphine HCl in schizophrenic patients on drug holidays and at relapse. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 482–9.Google Scholar
Cotes, P. M., Crow, T. J., Johnstone, E. C., Bartlett, W. & Bourne, R. C. (1978) Neuroendocrine changes in acute schizophrenia as a function of clinical state and neuroleptic medication. Psychological Medicine, 8, 657–65.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1980) Molecular pathology of schizophrenia: more than one disease process? British Medical Journal, 280, 66–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crow, T. J. (1982) Institutionalization and the defects of schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 212–13.Google Scholar
Emment, Y., Collins, W. P. & Somerville, I. F. (1972) Radioimmunoassay of oestrone and oestradiol in human plasma. Acta Endocrinologica, 69, 567–82.Google ScholarPubMed
Ettigi, P., Lal, S., Martin, J. B. & Friesen, H. G. (1975) Effect of sex, and contraceptives and glucose loading on apomorphine-induced growth hormone secretion. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 40, 1094–8.Google Scholar
Ettigi, P., Nair, N. P. W., Lal, S., Cervantes, P. & Guyda, H. (1976) Effect of apomorphine on growth hormone and prolactin secretion in schizophrenic patients with or without oral dyskinesia, withdrawn from chronic neuroleptic therapy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 39, 870–6.Google Scholar
Feighner, J. P., Robins, E., Guze, S. B., Woodruff, R. A., Winokur, G. & Munoz, R. (1972) Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friend, W. C., Brown, G. M., Jawahir, G., Lee, T. & Seeman, P. (1978) Effect of haloperidol and apomorphine treatment on dopamine receptors in pituitary and striatum. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 839–41.Google ScholarPubMed
Healey, M. J. R. (1972) Statistical analysis of radioimmunoassay data. Biochemical Journal, 130, 207–10.Google Scholar
Johnstone, E. C., Crow, T. J. & Mashiter, K. (1977) Anterior pituitary hormone secretion in chronic schizophrenia—an approach to neurohumeral mechanisms. Psychological Medicine, 7, 223–8.Google Scholar
Johnstone, E. C. & Ferrier, I. N. (1980) Neuroendocrine markers of CNS drug effects. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 10, 5–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleinman, J. E., Weinberger, D. R., Rogol, A. D., Bigelow, L. B., Klein, S. J., Gillin, C. & Wyatt, R. J. (1982) Plasma prolactin concentrations and psychopathology in chronic schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 655–7.Google Scholar
Krawiecka, M., Goldberg, D. & Vaughan, M. (1977) A standardized assessment scale of rating chronic psychotic patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 55, 299–308.Google Scholar
Laduron, P. M. & Leysen, J. E. (1979) Domperidone, a specific in vitro dopamine antagonist devoid of in vivo central dopaminergic activity. Biochemical Pharmacology, 28, 2161–5.Google Scholar
Lal, H., Brown, W., Drawburgh, R., Hynes, M. & Brown, G. (1977) Enhanced prolactin inhibition following chronic treatment with haloperidol and morphine. Life Sciences, 20, 101–6.Google Scholar
Lal, H., De La Vega, C. E., Sourkes, T. L. & Friesen, H. G. (1973) Effect of apomorphine on growth hormone, prolactin, luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone in human serum. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 37, 719–24.Google Scholar
Lal, H., Harvey, G. & Bikadoroff, S. (1977) Effect of methysergide and pimozide on apomorphine-induced growth hormone secretion in man. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 44, 766–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, T., Seeman, P., Tourtellotte, W. W., Farley, I. J. & Hornykiewicz, O. (1978) Binding of 3H-neuroleptics and 3H-apomorphine in schizophrenic brains. Nature, 274, 897–900.Google Scholar
List, S. & Seeman, P. (1981) Resolution of the dopamine and serotonin receptor components of 3H-spiperone binding to rat brain regions. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, 78, 2620–4.Google Scholar
Meltzer, H. Y., Sachar, E. J. & Frantz, A. G. (1974) Serum prolactin levels in unmedicated schizophrenic patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 564–9.Google Scholar
Meltzer, H. Y., Busch, D. & Fang, V. S. (1982) Neuroendocrine abnormalities in schizophrenia: prolactin, growth hormone and gonadotrophins. In Neuroendocrinology and Psychiatric Disorder (ed. Brown, G. M., Reichlin, S. and Koslow, S.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Owen, F., Cross, A. J., Crow, T. J., Longden, A., Poulter, M. & Riley, G. J. (1978) Increased dopamine receptor sensitivity in schizophrenia. Lancet, ii, 223–6.Google Scholar
Owens, D. G. C. & Johnstone, E. C. (1980) The disabilities of chronic schizophrenia—their nature and factors contributing to their development. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 384–95.Google Scholar
Pandey, G. N., Garver, D. L., Tamminga, C., Erickson, S., Syad, I. A. & Davis, J. M. (1977) Post-synaptic supersensitivity in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 518–22.Google Scholar
Randrup, A. & Munkvad, I. (1972) Evidence indicating an association between schizophrenia and dopaminergic hyperactivity in the brain. Orthomolecular Psychiatry, 1, 2–7.Google Scholar
Rotrosen, J., Angrist, B. M., Gershon, S., Sachar, E. J. & Halpern, F. S. (1978) Suppression of prolactin by dopamine agonists in schizophrenics and controls. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 949–51.Google ScholarPubMed
Rotrosen, J., Angrist, O., Gershon, S., Parquin, T., Brenchey, L., Oleshansky, M., Halpern, F. & Sachar, E. J. (1979) Neuroendocrine effects of apomorphine. Characterisation of response patterns and application to schizophrenia research. British Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 444–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.