Szymanski H V, Naylor E W, Karoum F
Biol Psychiatry. 1987 Feb;22(2):194-8. doi: 10.1016/0006-3223(87)90230-7.
The hypothesis that phenylethylamine (PEA) is an endogenous psychotogen in schizophrenics, particularly those with the paranoid subtype, has been previously studied by measuring PEA levels in urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of schizophrenic patients. However, plasma PEA may more accurately reflect simultaneous alterations of PEA in many organ systems, as might occur in a genetic disorder of PEA metabolism. No study to date has examined phenylalanine (Phe), which is thought to be a precursor of PEA, in the same patients who had PEA measured. In this study, we measure both plasma PEA and Phe in 17 drug-free schizophrenic patients and 17 matched controls. Plasma PEA in normal controls was found to be lower by three orders of magnitude compared to normal controls from previous studies--a finding that has not previously been reported. PEA was significantly lower in those schizophrenic patients who had a Research Diagnostic Criteria diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. PEA did not differ between patients and controls, and the correlation between plasma Phe and PEA was not significant.
苯乙胺（PEA）是精神分裂症患者，尤其是偏执型亚型患者的内源性致幻剂，这一假说此前已通过测量精神分裂症患者尿液和脑脊液（CSF）中的PEA水平进行了研究。然而，血浆PEA可能更准确地反映许多器官系统中PEA的同时变化，这可能发生在PEA代谢的遗传疾病中。迄今为止，尚无研究在测量PEA的同一患者中检测被认为是PEA前体的苯丙氨酸（Phe）。在本研究中，我们测量了17名未服用药物的精神分裂症患者和17名匹配对照者的血浆PEA和Phe。与先前研究中的正常对照相比，正常对照者的血浆PEA低三个数量级——这一发现此前未曾报道。在那些根据研究诊断标准被诊断为偏执型精神分裂症的精神分裂症患者中，PEA显著较低。患者和对照者之间的PEA没有差异，血浆Phe和PEA之间的相关性也不显著。
