According to Fils-Aime et al. (A-21), epidemiologic surveys have found that alcoholism is the most common mental or substance abuse disorder among men in the United States. Fils-Aime and associates investigated the interrelationships of age at onset of excessive alcohol consumption, family history of alcoholism, psychiatric comorbidity, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine metabolite concentrations in abstinent, treatment-seeking alcoholics. Subjects were mostly white males classified as experiencing early (25 years or younger) or late (older than 25 years) onset of excessive alcohol consumption. Among the data collected were the following measurements on CSF tryptophan (TRYPT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) concentrations (pmol/ml).

5-HIAA TRYPT Onset 1 ¼ Early 0 ¼ Late 5-HIAA TRYPT Onset 1 ¼ Early 0 ¼ Late 57 3315 1 102 3181 1 116 2599 0 51 2513 1 81 3334 1 92 2764 1 78 2505 0 104 3098 1 206 3269 0 50 2900 1 64 3543 1 93 4125 1 123 3374 0 146 6081 1 147 2345 1 96 2972 1 102 2855 1 112 3962 0 93 2972 1 23 4894 1 128 3904 0 109 3543 1 69 2564 1 80 2622 1 20 8832 1 111 3012 1 66 4894 0 85 2685 1 90 6017 1 131 3059 0 103 3143 0 58 3946 1 68 3729 0 110 3356 0 81 3150 1 80 3671 1 143 3955 1 42 4155 1 121 4288 1 80 1923 1 149 3404 0 91 3589 1 82 2547 1 102 3839 0 100 3633 1 93 2627 0 117 3309 1 98 3181 0 41 3315 1 78 4428 0 223 3418 0 152 3303 0 96 2295 1 108 5386 1 87 3232 0 102 3282 1 96 3496 1 122 2754 1 34 2656 1 81 4321 1 98 4318 1 81 3386 1 86 3510 0 99 3344 1 118 3613 1 73 3789 1 84 3117 1 163 2131 1 99 3496 1 109 3030 0 114 4612 1 90 4731 1