Citation

Stanislav SW, Crismon ML, Childs NL. Biol. Psychiatry 1998; 43(8): 619-621.

Affiliation

Brown Schools Rehabilitation Center, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9564449

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This pilot study was conducted to determine if aggressive, post brain-injured patients have abnormal glucose metabolism or abnormal CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations as compared with non-aggressive, post brain-injured controls. METHODS: Subjects with a history of traumatic brain injury underwent a lumbar puncture and glucose tolerance test after a three-week medication wash-out period. Monoamine metabolite concentrations and glucose nadirs were compared between aggressive and control subjects. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences between the aggressive (n = 4) and control (n = 6) group with respect to age (28.5 +/- 15.7 versus 28.0 +/- 10.8), weight (72.5 kg +/- 14.1 versus 67.7 kg +/- 10.1) or number of months since brain injury (31.8 +/- 26.1 versus 33.3 +/- 23.3). There were no significant differences between the two groups in glucose nadirs following oral glucose challenge or in levels of CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA), or 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), although a trend toward significance was noted between the MHPG groups (higher MHPG within aggressive group). CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary data suggest that glucose metabolism and CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations do not differ significantly from aggressive subjects to controls in persons with brain injury. Follow-up prospective studies with larger sample sizes are needed to evaluate these preliminary findings.

Language: en