Abstract
Plasma levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenylethyleneglycol (MHPG) were measured in 101 patients with acute stroke, admitted within 72 hours of onset. Plasma MHPG was determined by the use of high-performance liquid chromatograph with electrochemical detection.
The mean value of plasma MHPG in patients with cerebral hemorrhage (7.3±0.5 ng/ml, N=47) was significantly higher than that in healthy subjects (3.7±0.3 ng/ml, N=15) (p<0.001). An increase in the levels of plasma MHPG was also noted in patients with cerebral infarction (6.8±0.5 ng/ml, N=54). Within the group of cerebral infarction, plasma MHPG in patients with cerebral embolism increased significantly as compared with cerebral thrombosis.
Plasma levels of MHPG were markedly elevated in patients with massive hemorrhage and with large infarction, and these levels well reflected the prognosis. In 16 of 23 patients, levels of MHPG in the cerebral venous blood were higher than those in the arterial blood, which was suggestive of the release of MHPG from the brain into the circulating blood.
These results suggest that following the onset of the stroke, an increase in the activity of the noradrenergic neurons may occur in the central nervous system, and noradrenaline and its metabolites may be massively released into the blood.
