The British Journal of Psychiatry 140: 192-198 (1982)
© 1982 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
The effect of lithium on platelet monoamine oxidase activity in bipolar and schizoaffective disorders
HY Meltzer, P Tueting and H Jackman
Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was studied in 33 in-patients
with bipolar and schizoaffective disorder who were treated with lithium.
Platelet MAO activity was found to increase following 10-41 dys of lithium
treatment compared to a prior drug free period, and the increase was
positively correlated with the duration of lithium treatment. The increase
in platelet MAO activity was not correlated wtih clinical improvement as
measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Global
Assessment Scale (GAS). The number of platelets per unit of blood was also
significantly correlated with the number of days of lithium treatment.
However, the increase in the number of platelets in lithium-treated
patients was not correlated with the increase in MAO activity and thus
appears not to account for it. These results indicate that studies relating
platelet MAO activity to psychiatric diagnosis should be interpreted
cautiously if patients are receiving lithium carbonate.