Reduced cerebrospinal fluid levels of the serotonin metabolite 5- hydroxyindoleacetic acid have been reported to be commonly associated with suicidal behavior. Alcoholics are known to often manifest suicidal behavior. Therefore, we compared alcoholics who had (N = 18) or had not (N = 132) attempted suicide and controls (N = 29) on cerebrospinal fluid levels of monoamine metabolites. There are no significant differences among the three groups for cerebrospinal fluid levels of either 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid, norepinephrine, or the norepinephrine metabolite 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol.
