Physical Diseases with Psychiatric Symptoms

I have researched this subject for years because I have found very interesting patterns that give important clues to psychiatric diseases. One of the patterns that I have noticed is that diseases with the excess of one or more amino acids are notorious for producing psychiatric symptoms (1).

"Several somatic illnesses are associated with psychiatric comorbidity. Evidence is provided that availability of the essential amino acid tryptophan, which is the precursor of serotonin, may cause this phenomenon." (1)

The full text of Ref. 1 is available for free online (2).

Tryptophan Metabolism

"The oxidative TRP catabolism can be induced by a variety of external and internal mechanisms. For example, TRP oxidase activity of the liver is induced by the adrenal stress hormone cortisol." (2)

Ref. 3 has more information on this topic.

"Unrelated to antipsychotic medication, KYNA levels are significantly elevated in the brain of individuals with schizophrenia." (4)

Here KYNA is short for kynurenic acid, a metabolite of tryptophan in the kynurenine pathway of metabolism. Ref. 5 has more information.
Cancer Drugs
Certain cancer drugs including interferon can cause psychiatric symtoms (6).

Oral Contraceptives

"Among the most frequently reported side effects are depressed mood, irritability and emotional instability." (2)

More information on this is given in Ref. 7. These side effects are thought to be caused by increased tryptophan metabolism.

Schizophrenia

Is schizophrenia a physical disease? The answer may be "Yes".

"Prior studies of mRNA expression, protein expression, and pathway metabolite levels have implicated dysregulation of the kynurenine pathway in the etiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder." (8)

"Upregulation of the kynurenine pathway has been associated with several etiologies of psychosis, an indication that increased levels of pathway intermediates might be involved in eliciting some psychotic features." (9)

"For this follow-up study of postmortem anterior cingulate gyrus, we have found evidence of increased TDO2 activity in schizophrenia at three different levels of regulation: mRNA, protein, and metabolic product. The results were unaffected by neuroleptic status or smoking history." (9)

These scientists were from the Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, 600 N. Wolfe St./Blalock 1105, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.

Ref. 10 adds more information. Ref. 10 is from the Department of Psychiatry, The Alimentary Pharmabiotic Center, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.

Coeliac Disease

Psychiatric symptoms are seen in coeliac disease. These are treated by a gluten-free diet (11-13). This disease is sometimes spelled "celiac disease". The problem is that the amino acid glutamine accumulates due to a transport error in the intestines. It is absorbed too rapidly. The amino acid becomes toxic to both the intestines and the brain. Glutamine is in wheat gluten and dairy products, so these must be avoided in the diet. Glutamate, a close relative, is an important neurotransmitter in the brain.

Conclusions

There is a huge number of physical diseases with psychiatric symptoms including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's chorea, Tourette syndrome, Parkinson's disease, PKU, Wilson's disease, acute intermittent porphyria, etc. In addition to these, there are also many instances of psychiatric symptoms caused by drugs including L-DOPA, cycloserine (a cancer drug), marijuana, mescaline, PCP, amphetamine, Ecstacy, Ritalin, etc. Both L-DOPA and cycloserine resemble amino acids. Aldomet (alpha-methyl-DOPA) is a drug used for hypertension. It resembles DOPA, which in turn resembles tyrosine.

Amphetamine and mescaline resemble dopamine. L-DOPA is the direct precursor of dopamine. Thus dopamine may be involved in psychiatric diseases as well as amino acids. Ref. 14 has more information on psychiatry. Ref. 15 has more information on nutrition. Ref. 16 presents nutritional theories for psychiatric diseases.

The neglect of nutrition by most psychiatrists is a mistake. It is very easy to just write out prescriptions rather than getting to the causes of the problems.

References

1. Russo S, Kema IP, Fokkema MR, Boon JC, Willemse PH, de Vries EG, den Boer JA, Korf J. Tryptophan as a link between psychopathology and somatic states. Psychosom Med. 2003;65:665-671.

2. http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/full/65/4/665

3. Bender DA. Biochemistry of tryptophan in health and disease. Mol Aspects Med 1983; 6: 101-97.

4. Toxoplasma gondii and Schizophrenia: Linkage Through Astrocyte-Derived Kynurenic Acid? Robert Schwarcz and Christopher A. Hunter. Schizophr Bull. 2007 May; 33(3): 652-653. Published online 2007 April 13.

6. www.associatedcontent.com/article/2517525/answers_to_cancers.html

5. Biol Psychiatry. 2001 Oct 1;50(7):521-30. Increased cortical kynurenate content in schizophrenia. Schwarcz R, Rassoulpour A, Wu HQ, Medoff D, Tamminga CA, Roberts RC.

7. Baumblatt MJ, Winston F. Pyridoxine and the pill. Lancet 1970; 1: 832-3.

8. Schizophr Res. 2009 Sep;113(2-3):259-67. Epub 2009 Jun 6. Two complex genotypes relevant to the kynurenine pathway and melanotropin function show association with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Miller CL, Murakami P, Ruczinski I, Ross RG, Sinkus M, Sullivan B, Leonard S.

9. Brain Res. 2006 Feb 16;1073-1074:25-37. Epub 2006 Jan 30. Upregulation of the initiating step of the kynurenine pathway in postmortem anterior cingulate cortex from individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Miller CL, Llenos IC, Dulay JR, Weis S.

10. Kynurenine pathway in psychosis: evidence of increased tryptophan degradation. Barry S, Clarke G, Scully P, Dinan TG. J Psychopharmacol. 2009 May;23(3):287-94. Epub 2008 Jun 18.

11. Hallert C, Sedvall G. Improvement in central monoamine metabolism in adult coeliac patients starting a gluten-free diet. Psychol Med 1983; 13: 267-71.

12. Hallert C, Astrom J, Walan A. Reversal of psychopathology in adult coeliac disease with the aid of pyridoxine (vitamin B6). Scand J Gastroenterol 1983; 18: 299-304.

13. Hernanz A, Polanco I. Plasma precursor amino acids of central nervous system monoamines in children with coeliac disease. Gut 1991; 32: 1478-81.

14. www.associatedcontent.com/article/2508437/psychiatry_science_or_science_fiction.html

15.
www.associatedcontent.com/article/2496855/micronutrient_research_little_miracle.html

16. www.associatedcontent.com/article/2532025/nutrition_and_psychiatry.html