Monoamines and their metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer type using high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Monoamines and their main metabolites were measured using HPLC-EC in the cerebrospinal fluid from age-matched elderly in-patients affected with senile dementia of Alzheimer type and chronic schizophrenia. Determination of the monoamine metabolites MHPG, HVA and 5-HIAA was also performed by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Significant differences were obtained with the two methods, the largest deviation being found for HVA, which was 15% higher in the HPLC method than in the GC-MS method, despite the correlation between the results of two measurements being consistent for all the three metabolites. The degrees of motor, intellectual and emotional deterioration were assessed using GBS rating scale. The results show a clear psychobehavioral and neurochemical differentiation of the two patient groups. HVA and 5-HIAA levels were significantly lower in SDAT patients, and showed a trend toward negative correlation with the degree of dementia.