ascorbic-acid and Bipolar-Disorder

The success of lithium in the treatment of manic-depressive illness has highlighted the problems posed by the minority of bipolar patients who are lithium nonresponders or who suffer severe adverse effects. A number of possible alternative treatments have been proposed, and the evidence in support of their clinical efficacy is evaluated. At this time, only the anticonvulsant carbamazepine can be regarded as a clinically applicable potential alternative to lithium. Further controlled studies are needed before the antimanic and prophylactic efficacy of carbamazepine can be regarded as conclusively established. Other treatment approaches are of considerable theoretical interest and of potential value clinically but need to be more thoroughly evaluated.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Bupropion; Carbamazepine; Choline; Clonazepam; Clonidine; Clorgyline; Demeclocycline; Fenfluramine; Humans; Methylene Blue; Phosphatidylcholines; Physostigmine; Propiophenones; Propranolol; Spironolactone; Thyroxine; Tryptophan; Valproic Acid

The evidence for the involvement of vanadium in the aetiology of manic depressive psychosis is reviewed. Raised levels of vanadium have been reported in plasma in mania and depression and raised hair levels reported in mania. Lithium has been reported to reduce the inhibition of Na-K ATPase by vanadate. Several groups of psychotropic drugs (e.g. phenothiazines, monoamine oxidase inhibitors) have been shown to catalyse the reduction of vanadate to the less active vanadyl ion. Therapies based on decreasing vanadate levels in the body (e.g. ascorbic acid, EDTA, methylene blue) have been reported to be effective in both depression and mania.

Topics: Adult; Animals; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Edetic Acid; Female; Hair; Humans; Methylene Blue; Psychotropic Drugs; Time Factors; Vanadium

Topics: Animals; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Brain; Dopamine; Feeding Behavior; Humans; Hypothalamus; Milk; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Norepinephrine; Pargyline; Phenethylamines; Phenothiazines; Propranolol; Punishment; Rats; Reward; Schizophrenia

The effect of Vitamin C in manic-depressive psychosis was assessed by a double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial. Both manic and depressed patients were significantly better following a single 3 g dose of Vitamin C than following a placebo. Preliminary results of a double-blind, crossover comparison of normal vanadium intake with reduced intake in manic and depressed subjects are reported. Both manic and depressed patients were significantly better on reduced intake. These results are in keeping with the suggestion that vanadium may be an aetiological factor in manic depressive illness.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Clinical Trials as Topic; Double-Blind Method; Edetic Acid; Humans; Placebos; Vanadium

A double-blind placebo-controlled trial of L-tryptophan, with pyridoxine and ascorbic acid, was carried out in 10 female patients suffering from mania. In contrast to earlier studies led by Prange and Murphy, L-tryptophan was found to be no better than placebo.

Topics: Adult; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Clinical Trials as Topic; Double-Blind Method; Drug Combinations; Drug Evaluation; Female; Humans; Placebos; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Pyridoxine; Tryptophan

In the last decades, foods rich in omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acids (FA) have been replaced by omega-6 (ω-6) and trans FA, which are found in processed foods. The influence of ω-6 (soybean oil--SO), trans (hydrogenated vegetable fat--HVF) and ω-3 (fish oil--FO) fatty acids on locomotor and oxidative stress (OS) parameters were studied in an animal model of mania. Rats orally fed with SO, HVF and FO for 8 weeks received daily injections of amphetamine (AMPH--4 mg/kg/mL-ip) for the last week of oral supplementation. HVF induced hyperactivity, increased the protein carbonyl levels in the cortex and decreased the mitochondrial viability in cortex and striatum. AMPH-treatment increased the locomotion and decreased the mitochondrial viability in all groups, but its neurotoxicity was higher in the HVF group. Similarly, AMPH administration increased the protein carbonyl levels in striatum and cortex of HVF-supplemented rats. AMPH reduced the vitamin-C plasmatic levels of SO and HVF-fed rats, whereas no change was observed in the FO group. Our findings suggest that trans fatty acids increased the oxidative damage per se and exacerbated the AMPH-induced effects. The impact of trans fatty acids consumption on neuronal diseases and its consequences in brain functions must be further evaluated.

Topics: Amphetamines; Animals; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Cerebral Cortex; Corpus Striatum; Drug Synergism; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Fatty Acids, Omega-6; Locomotion; Rats

The effect of ascorbic acid and ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) in the treatment of manic-depressive psychosis was compared, using double-blind procedures, with recognized treatment regimes. There was no significant difference between the response of depressed patients to amitriptyline or ascorbic acid and EDTA. Manic patients responded significantly better to lithium than to ascorbic acid and EDTA. These results are in keeping with the suggestion that vanadium may be of aetiological importance in depressive psychosis, but do not support such a suggestion for mania.

Topics: Amitriptyline; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Double-Blind Method; Edetic Acid; Humans; Lithium; Lithium Carbonate; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Vanadium

Topics: Allopurinol; Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Depression; Electroconvulsive Therapy; Humans; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; Niacinamide; Pyridoxine; Tryptophan

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Double-Blind Method; Edetic Acid; Humans; Kinetics; Lymphocytes; Ouabain; Vanadium

Eight patients undergoing antidepressant therapy with nortriptyline for 1--4 years were investigated. The period of the investigation was 7 weeks and included a 2-week placebo period, blind for the patients. Total saliva secretion measurement, the nortriptyline plasma level, and signs and symptoms of depression and side effects were obtained once a week during the study. The results of the investigation were: (1) long-term treatment with nortriptyline is followed by hyposecretion or xerostomia, (2) the reduction of the secretion is reversible, (3) re-establishment of treatment with dosage leading to the same serum level of nortriptyline is immediately followed by a drop in saliva secretion, and (4) the changes in salivary secretion are useful as an indicator of side effects. The practical importance of the investigation is discussed.

Topics: Aged; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Carbonates; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nortriptyline; Placebos; Saliva; Salivation; Sleep; Sodium; Time Factors; Xerostomia

Topics: Adult; Aged; Ascorbic Acid; Bipolar Disorder; Diet; Female; Folic Acid; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pyridoxine; Tyrosine