[Biogenic amine metabolism in patients with oligophrenia of different origins]

The levels of blood serotonin and the urinary concentrations of 5-HIAA, DOPA, dopamine, adrenaline as well as the products of their conversion and disintegration were assessed in 104 oligophrenic patients of different age with different genesis (phenylketonurea, Down's disease, mental retardation of residual organic origin including the complicated syndrome of early childhood autism). The results obtained showed peculiar deviations in serotonin and catecholamine metabolism in each of the diseases, which were independent of the degree of mental retardation. Clinical-biochemical parallels point to considerable differences in the mechanisms of the revealed metabolic digressions in the studied forms of psychic retardation.