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Neuropsychological function and platelet monoamine oxidase activity levels in type I alcoholic patients
Samuel Pombo1, Pilar Levy, Manuel Bicho
1Psychiatric Service of Santa Maria General Hospital, Núcleo de Estudos e Tratamento do Etilo-Risco (NETER), Lisbon, Portugal. samuelpombo@gmail.com
Aims:
To explore neuropsychological function in two differentiated patterns of platelet monoamine oxidase B (MAO B) activity in alcoholic patients.
Methods:
Neuropsychological examination and platelet MAO B activity extracted from blood were collected from 42 alcohol-dependent patients recruited in the alcoholism unit (NETER) of the Psychiatric Service of Santa Maria University Hospital.
Results:
Alcoholics presented significantly low levels of platelet MAO B activity, when compared with control subjects; platelet MAO B activity in alcoholics classified as "under average subgroup" showed significant lower scores in the Raven Progressive Matrix and higher scores in hostility dimension, when compared with platelet MAO B activity in "above average subgroup."
Conclusions:
Results suggested platelet MAO B as a trait marker also to type I alcohol-dependent patients and the two observed associations between platelet MAO B activity with neurocognitive measures of executive functions (nonverbal reasoning) and psychopathological dimension such as hostility may support the notion about the effect of platelet MAO B activity in the further development of an impulsive cognitive style.
