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CSF Levels of Norepinephrine During Alcohol Withdrawal
Rollin J. Hawley, MD;
Leslie F. Major, MD;
Elliott A. Schulman, MD;
C. Raymond Lake, MD, PhD
Arch Neurol. 1981;38(5):289-292.
Abstract
• Cerebrospinal fluid norepinephrine (NE) levels were determined by radioenzymatic assay in 21 patients with a variety of neurological diseases and 49 patients in acute alcohol withdrawal. A second determination was made in 19 patients who had recovered from the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Cerebrospinal fluid NE concentration was higher in the patients during alcohol withdrawal (192.3 ± 22.3 pg/mL) and decreased during recovery to 137.8 ± 15.9 pg/mL. The CSF NE level was higher in both groups than in patients with other neurological disorders. This may help to explain the adrenergic signs observed during alcohol withdrawal.
Author Affiliations
From the Neurology Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Washington, DC (Dr Hawley); the Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York, Binghamton (Dr Major); the Neurology Department, Temple University, Philadelphia (Dr Schulman); and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, United States University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md (Dr Lake).
Footnotes
Accepted for publication June 15, 1980.
Part of this work was performed while Drs Major and Lake were at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Reprint requests to Neurology Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, 50 Irving St NW, Washington, DC 20422 (Dr Hawley).
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