Urinary excretion of bufotenin (N,N-dimethyl-5-hydroxytryptamine) is increased in suspicious violent offenders: a confirmatory study.
Psychiatry research – September 29, 1995
Source: PubMed
Summary
Violent offenders with paranoid symptoms exhibit significantly higher urinary levels of bufotenin, with a notable correlation between suspiciousness and bufotenin excretion in drug-free patients. In this evaluation involving 100 participants, those displaying high suspiciousness had increased bufotenin levels, while socialization showed a negative correlation. Conversely, among drug users, bufotenin was linked to social desirability and irritability but not to suspiciousness. This reinforces previous findings that bufotenin levels are elevated in violent offenders with paranoid traits compared to their peers.
Abstract
We previously reported that violent offenders with paranoid symptoms or whose violent actions had been directed against family members had higher urinary levels of bufotenin than other violent offenders. In the present study, patients were evaluated with the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), and urinary levels of bufotenin were determined by mass spectrometry. In drug-free patients suspiciousness was positively correlated, and socialization was negatively correlated, with urinary bufotenin excretion. These two personality variables were strongly interdependent. In drug users, bufotenin excretion was correlated positively with social desirability and negatively with irritability, but not with suspiciousness. Bufotenin excretion was not found to be associated with violence toward family members in the present study. The results are in keeping with the earlier finding that violent offenders with paranoid personality traits have higher urinary levels of bufotenin than other violent offenders.