We have recently described an association between abnormal behaviour and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) deficiency in several males from a single large Dutch kindred. A characteristically abnormal excretion pattern of biogenic amine metabolites was present in 24-hour urine of affected males. Because of this strikingly abnormal metabolite pattern observed in 24 hour urine samples of MAO-A deficient males we hypothesized that it should be possible to diagnose this condition by examining random urine samples. We therefore studied multiple urine samples obtained over a two-week study period from two males with selective MAO-A deficiency. The results demonstrate that the characteristic abnormalities in the excretion of biogenic amines and their metabolites were faithfully present in every one of 12 independent samples obtained from the MAO-A deficient males over the two-week study period. We conclude that MAO-A deficiency can be reliably diagnosed by measuring the ratio of normetanephrine (NMN) to VMA (or that of NMN to MHPG) in random urine samples.
CITATION STYLE
Abeling, N. G. G. M., Van Gennip, A. H., Van Cruchten, A. G., Overmars, H., & Brunner, H. G. (1998). Monoamine oxidase A deficiency: Biogenic amine metabolites in random urine samples. Journal of Neural Transmission, Supplement, (52), 9–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6499-0_2
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