Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol 398, Issue 1 399-412, Copyright © 1982 by New York Academy of Sciences
Endorphins in the cerebrospinal fluid of psychiatric patients
D. Pickar, D. Naber, R. M. Post, D. P. van Kammen, W. Kaye, D. R. Rubinow, J. C. Ballenger and W. E. Bunney Jr
In this paper we have reported the results of studies in psychiatric
patient groups using the strategy of measuring opioid activity and
beta-endorphin (ir) in CSF. Our findings do not lend support to the notion
of excess endorphin activity in schizophrenia, but rather suggest the
possibility of a decrease in endogenous opioid activity in some
schizophrenic patients. In affectively ill patients our data suggest that
there may be a relative change in endogenous opioid system activity across
state change in manic-depressive illness. Who also found a relationship
between nurses' ratings of anxiety and CSF opioid activity in depressed
patients, although it is unknown whether this directly relates to the
pathophysiology of this symptom, or is related to stress response. The
relationship between CSF opioid activity and HPA axis activity, as
reflected by urinary free cortisol excretion, supports the notion of
important physiologic relationships between these systems and raises the
issue of a role for the endogenous opioid system in the abnormal activation
of this system in depression. Finally, the finding of increased CSF opioid
activity in anorexia nervosa patients when a minimum weight coupled with
data relating endogenous opioids to eating behavior raises interesting
questions regarding a possible involvement of the endogenous opioid system
involvement in this illness.
