Major Depression and Other Mental Disorders

Stress is considered a risk factor for depression as well as for other mental diseases (1). It is considered the cause of post-traumatic stress disorder, which is often seen in wars, unfortunately. There is also a genetic theory (2). My own view is that both stress and genetics are involved. There could be a genetic weakness in the person's ability to handle stress. This could be due to abnormal stress chemistry.

Tryptophan in Depression

Ref. 13 was one of many reports of abnormal tryptophan metabolism in depression.

"The accumulation of tryptophan by the platelet is significantly greater in the acutely depressed patients than the control group." Wood et al

There is even a report of tryptophan metabolism abnormality in epilepsy (14).

"Neurokynurenines (NK) possessing various neuroactivities, are involved in many abnormalities in stress, anxiety, depression, alcoholism, epilepsy, neurologic diseases. Level of the excitatory NK, e.g. kynurenine (KYN) and quinolinic acid (QUIN), is elevated in many of those diseases, and a correlation between a rise of NK and severity of symptoms has been registered." Melnikova NV (14)

Neurokyurenines

NEKY are also discussed in Ref. 15 (Lapin). Lapin is from the Bekhterev Psychoneurological Research Institute, 193019 St. Petersburg, Russia. Lapin regards KYN as a putative endogenous anxiogen.

"Elevation of concentrations of corticosteroids resulted in rise of level of NEKY due to hormonal induction of liver tryptophan pyrrolase and brain 2,3 dioxigenase." Lapin

Refs. 16 & 17 elevated xanthurenic acid in depression. This suggests increased tryptophan catabolism.

Abnormal Tryptophan Metabolism in Schizophrenia

Refs. 18-22, which are available free full text at Associated Content, discuss abnormal tryptophan metabolism in schizophrenia. There is also a theory that tryptophan metabolism is abnormal in alcoholism.

Abnormal proteins have been found in schizophrenia by a UK group (10). These supports previous research done in Detroit and in Moscow. The Detroit work was done by the Lafayette Clinic at Wayne State university.

There is also a glutamate theory (11). This is a very plausible theory because glutamate is an important neurotransmitter in the brain. Both glutamate and tryptophan are amino acids found in the diet, particularly in animal products and bread. Also Chinese foods sometimes contain MSG, which is monosodium glutamate. I would avoid MSG because the sodium is a risk factor for hypertension.

Conclusions

The Proteomic Mass Spectrometry team found the abnormal proteins in schizophrenia. Hopefully they will follow up this work and identify the proteins better. Proteomics is the study of proteins in diseases, and this technology can be useful in understanding, or trying to understand, a variety of diseases. Ref. 10 is available free full text on the Internet at the journal website, but this article is very profound. My own articles are much easier to understand. Ref. 10 is so technical that the average reader would struggle with it. My own articles are the Associated Content references.

In view of the close association of mental diseases with tryptophan hypercatabolism, I suggest a diet very low in tryptophan as a treatment. Since tryptophan is in protein, this would mean a diet very low in protein. Animal products tend to be high in protein, whereas plant products have less protein. Plant products are also healthier for your heart because they have no cholesterol and less saturated fats. Heart disease is the leading cause of death according to Dr. Andrew Weil.

References

1. Stress and Depression: Preclinical Research and Clinical Implications Alessandro Bartolomucci and Rosario LeopardiPLoS ONE. 2009; 4(1): e4265. Published online 2009 January 30. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004265. PMCID: PMC2629543.

2. Malhi GS, Moore J, McGuffin P. The genetics of major depressive disorder. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2000;2:165-169.

3. Duman RS, Monteggia LM. A neurotrophic model for stress-related mood disorders. Biol Psychiatry. 2006;59:1116-1127.

4. Lesch KP. Gene-environment interaction and the genetics of depression. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2004;29:174-184.

5. Nestler EJ, Gould E, Manji H, Buncan M, Duman RS, et al. Preclinical models: status of basic research in depression. Biol Psychiatry. 2002;52:503-528.

6. Krishnan V, Nestler EJ. The molecular neurobiology of depression. Nature. 2008;455:894-902.

7. Åsberg M, Nygren A, Leopardi R, Rylander G, Peterson U, et al. Novel biochemical markers of psychosocial stress in women. PLoS ONE. 2009;3:e?.

8. Baune BT, Hohoff C, Berger K, Neumann A, Mortensen LS, et al. Association of the COMT val158met variant with antidepressant treatment response in Major Depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008;33:924-932.

9. de Kloet ER, Joëls M, Holsboer F. Stress and the brain: from adaptation to disease. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2005;6:463-475.

10. Targeted tandem affinity purification of PSD-95 recovers core postsynaptic complexes and schizophrenia susceptibility proteins.
Fernández E, Collins MO, Uren RT, Kopanitsa MV, Komiyama NH, Croning MD, Zografos L, Armstrong JD, Choudhary JS, Grant SG
Mol Syst Biol. 2009;5;269. PMID: 19455133 DOI: 10.1038/msb.2009.27.

11. Coyle JT (2006) Glutamate and schizophrenia: beyond the dopamine hypothesis. Cell Mol Neurobiol 26: 365-384.

12. Coyle, J. T. (2009) MicroRNAs suggest a new mechanism for altered brain gene expression in schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(9).

13. Tryptophan accumulation by blood platelets of depressed patients.

Wood K, Swade C, Coppen A.

J Neural Transm Suppl. 1979;(15):161-3.

PMID: 290754 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE].

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

Melnikova NV.

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

PMID: 15206732 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

15. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2003;527:121-5. Neurokynurenines (NEKY) as common neurochemical links of stress and anxiety. Lapin IP.
16. The clinical significance of disordered renal excretion of xanthurenic acid in depressive patients.

Hoes MJ, Sijben N.

Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1981;75(4):346-9.

PMID: 6803277 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

17. The clinical significance of an elevated excretion of xanthurenic acid in psychiatric patients.

Hoes MJ.

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PMID: 162316 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

18. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1728112/mental_illness_and_homelessness.html
19. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1698919/advances_in_biological_psychiatric.html
20. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680090/cuban_research_on_schizophrenia.html
21. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680380/the_virus_theory_for_schizophrenia.html

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