Increased concentrations of the monoamine metabolites homovanillic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in lumbar and central CSF and of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol in lumbar CSF after subarachnoid haemorrhage.

The concentrations of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA), the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and the norepinephrine metabolite 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MOPEG) were determined in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) using a mass fragmentographic method. In a first group of 24 patients lumbar CSF was collected during the first 10 days after SAH. The concentrations of HVA and 5-HIAA showed a several-fold increase in the majority of subjects while that for MOPEG was less pronounced in comparison to controls. In a second group of 12 SAH-patients, CSF was collected in 10 ml fractions during surgical clipping of aneurysms. The mean concentrations of HVA, 5-HIAA and MOPEG in lumbar CSF was 469,275 and 39 pmol/l, respectively, whereas central CSF concentrations were 1,212, 499 and 48 pmol/ml, respectively. Compared to healthy controls, both HVA and 5-HIAA showed increased levels (pl 0,01) but MOPEG was within the normal range. No correlation between the concentrations of the monoamine metabolites, the neurological condition or the cerebral vascular diameter was observed in neither of the two groups. It is suggested that the accumulation of HVA and 5-HIAA in SAH patients is explained by a disturbance of the active transport mechanism.