Chemical Tests for Mental Illness

This is a very controversial area. Many deny that mental illness is organic, but these people are wrong. In the Fifties Reigelhaupt of the UK reported abnormal glyoxylic acid tests for schizophrenics. He later did another study which confirmed his earlier study. This test reports tryptophan or similar substances in the urine. This positive finding suggests abnormal tryptophan metabolism in schizophrenia.

Abnormal Amino Acid Transport

Ref. 6 reports abnormal amino acid transport across the cell membranes in bipolar disorder. This is interesting because some orthomolecular practitioners have given some amino acids as supplements in mental disease. There is a view that some amino acids are therapeutic.

Stress

Stress is thought to make mental illness worse (7). Stress produces certain biochemical changes. It alters tryptophan metabolism among other things.

Treatment

Ref. 8 favors tryptophan depletion as a treatment in mania. Ref. 9 claims that diet can alter the brain. This appears to support orthomolecular theory. Amino acids are very important in the brain. Neurotransmitters are made from them.

"A measure of the competitive transport of LNAAs across the blood-brain barrier, calculated using plasma concentrations of the LNAAs and their blood-brain barrier kinetic constants, predicted the observed CSF concentration of each LNAA examined remarkably well, except for phenylalanine. Based on observations in rats, the variations in the CSF concentrations of the LNAAs in monkeys may be large enough to influence metabolic and signaling pathways in brain to which they have been linked."

Michael A. Grimes, Judy L. Cameron and John D. Fernstrom (9)

The large neutral amino acids are tyrosine, phenylalanine, and branched-chain amino acids. These compete with each other for transport into the brain. For example, leucine competes with tryptophan. Thus a diet high in leucine could lower brain tryptophan. This is also true of threonine, valine, etc.

Corn is unusual because it is low in tryptophan. Gelatin is also unusual because it has no tryptophan.

Other Tests

Other tests are explained in detail in the Associated Content references, which are free full text (10-16). There is a very popular theory that serotonin is supposed to be low in the brains of patients. However, Ref. 17 reports the opposite of this.

"Depressed suicide patients have elevated expression of neuronal tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) mRNA and protein in midbrain serotonergic neurons, as well as increases in brain serotonin turnover." Christopher A. Lowry, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0354 (Ref. 17)

This throws much cold water on the theory advocated by the SSRI drug companies, which is mostly guesswork. They claim that serotonin is low in the brain. This goes back to a theory from the Fifties. It seems that Gaddum thought that the chemical structure of serotonin somewhat resembled that of LSD. He found an antoagonism between LSD and serotonin. This was expanded by Wooley & Shaw, who hypothesized that serotonin was low in the brains of schizophrenics.

However, Lowry found increased metabolism of tryptophan in the pathway to serotonin. This suggests too much serotonin. Lowry's findings are compatible with a theory oif too much tryptophan flooding the brain cells. This is seen in acute intermittent porphyria. This disease has psychiatric symptoms. It seems that the excess tryptophan poisons the brain.

Conclusions

Lowry's work seems compatible with the Ref. 8 suggestion of tryptophan depletion was a treatment. I found Ref. 8 at the database called Health Reference Center. This is a Gale database available at most big libraries. The enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase converts tryptophan to 5-hydroxytryptophan, which is the direct precursor of serotonin.

Zepf et al reported "recent preliminary evidence suggests that acute mania may be related to a hyperserotonergic state." These authors are from the following address:

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main, Deutschordenstr. 50/Building 92, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

"The reduction of central nervous 5-HT synthesis achieved by a new modification of the dietary rapid tryptophan depletion technique, with the relevant amino acids dosed according to body weight, is hypothesized by the authors to be a further option of treatment during acute mania, in particular in view of a decrease in adverse reactions, a reduced amount of amino acids needed for sufficient depletion, but also improved tolerability." Zepf et al (Ref. 8)

I agree with the German scientists that this should be tried. Corn is low in tryptophan, and gelatin has no tryptophan.

References

1. The immune effects of TRYCATs (tryptophan catabolites along the IDO pathway): relevance for depression - and other conditions characterized by tryptophan depletion induced by inflammation.

Maes M, Mihaylova I, Ruyter MD, Kubera M, Bosmans E.

Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2007 Dec;28(6):826-31.

2. Neurokynurenines--seizures or/and anxiety in children with epilepsy?

Melnikova NV.

Adv Exp Med Biol. 2003;527:191-5.

3. Inhibition of tryptophan----niacin metabolism by dietary leucine and by leucine and 2-oxo-isocaproate in vitro.

Bender DA.

Adv Exp Med Biol. 1991;294:501-4.

4. Biological markers in psychiatry.

Hoes MJ.

Acta Psychiatr Belg. 1986 May-Jun;86(3):220-41.

5. Cytokines and schizophrenia: Microglia hypothesis of schizophrenia. Akira Monji, Takahiro Kato and Shigenobu Kanba.
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 63.3 (June 2009): p257(9).

6. Persson, M.L., J. Johansson, R. Vumma, J. Raita, L. Bjerkenstedt, F.-A. Wiesel, and N. Venizelos. "Aberrant amino acid transport in fibroblasts from patients with bipolar disorder.(Clinical report)." Neuroscience Letters 457.1 (June 19, 2009): 49(4). Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 June 2009
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=HRCA.

7. Browne, C.A., G. Clarke, T.G. Dinan, and J.F. Cryan. "P.2.03 Restraint stress alters tryptophan hydroxylase 2 activity in BALB/c mice: relevance to depression." European Neuropsychopharmacology 19 (March 2009): S35-S36. Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 June 2009
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8. Zepf, Florian Daniel, Lars Wockel, Fritz Poustka, and Martin Holtmann. "Dietary tryptophan depletion according to body weight - A new treatment option in acute mania?." Medical Hypotheses 72.1 (Jan 2009): 47(2). Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 June 2009
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=HRCA.

9. Grimes, Michael A., Judy L. Cameron, and John D. Fernstrom. "Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of large neutral and basic amino acids in Macaca mulatta: diurnal variations and responses to chronic changes in dietary protein intake.(Report)." Metabolism 58.1 (Jan 2009): 129(12). Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 June 2009
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=HRCA.

10. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1817632/antipsychiatry_is_too_radical.html

11. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1810794/scientology_is_bogus.html

12. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1728112/mental_illness_and_homelessness.html

13. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1698919/advances_in_biological_psychiatric.html

14. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680090/cuban_research_on_schizophrenia.html

15. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680380/the_virus_theory_for_schizophrenia.html

16. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1676885/new_ideas_in_psychiatry.html

17. "Serotonergic Systems, Anxiety, and Affective Disorder." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1148 (Dec 2008): 86(9). Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 June 2009
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