The British Journal of Psychiatry 142: 288-291 (1983)
© 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Low CSF concentrations of cyclic GMP in schizophrenia
WF Gattaz, H Cramer and H Beckmann
Increasing evidence suggests that the concentrations of cyclic guanosine
3'5'-monophosphate (cGMP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may reflect
central cholinergic activity. When the concentrations of this nucleotide in
the CSF from 28 schizophrenic patients (13 without and 15 with neuroleptic
treatment) and 16 psychiatrically healthy controls was determined the
schizophrenics showed significantly lower CSF levels of cGMP as compared to
controls. As dopamine and homovanillic acid concentrations were not altered
in these CSF samples, this finding of reduced cGMP suggests a
cholinergic-dopaminergic imbalance in schizophrenia, with a reduction of
the former and consequently a relative dominance of the latter.