Depressive patients may have disturbances in folic acid metabolism related
to vitamin B6, B12, magnesium or zinc deficiency, with improvement in
depression on treatment of these deficiencies. Lietha R et al:
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presence of elevated serum and erythrocyte folate: A preliminary report. J
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Serum folate levels were estimated in depressed patients and found to be
significantly lower than in normal controls. The lower the folate the more
severe the depression. Abou-Saleh MT et al: Serum and red blood cell folate in
depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand 80(1):78-82, 1989.
Folate deficiency is common in psychiatric disorders, especially
depression, and may predispose to or aggravate psychiatric disturbances.
Abou-Saleh MT et al: The biology of folate in depression: implications for
nutritional hypotheses of the psychoses. J Psychiatr Res 20(2):91-101, 1986.
Of 11 healthy men given a selenium-rich or selenium-poor experimental diet
for 99 days, those with an initially low selenium status experienced
relatively depressed moods. Hawkes WC et al: Effects of dietary selenium on
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In a double-blind trial, adminisration of the amino acid dl-phenylalanine (DLPA)
was compared with the antidepressant drug imipramine in 40 depressed patients.
Both products were found to be equally effective. Beckmann H et al: dl-phenylalanine
versus imipramine: a double-blind controlled study. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr
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75-200 mg per day of the amino acid dl-phenylalanine was (DLPA) administered
to depressed patients for 20 days. 12 patients were discharged with a complete
or good response and only 4 patients did not respond. The investigators conclude
that DLPA may have substantial antidepressant properties. Beckmann H et al: Dl-phenylalanine
in depressed patients: an open study. J Neural Transm 41(2-3):123-34, 1977.
The amino acid tyrosine is precursor to noradrenaline, needed for mood
balance. Trials using tyrosine supplementation against depression have shown
encouraging results. Gelenberg AJ et al: Tyrosine for depression. J Psychiatr
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In contraceptive pill users with depression, anxiety and other symptoms,
vitamin B6 supplementation restores normal tryptophan metabolism and relieves
the related symptoms. Bermond P: Therapy of side effects of oral contraceptive
agents with vitamin B6. Acta Vitaminol Enzymol 4(1-2):45-54, 1982.
12 patients with dopamine-dependent depression were treated with the amino
acid L-tyrosine. On the first day of treatment a return to normal mood was
observed. Mouret J et al: L-tyrosine cures, immediate and long term,
dopamine-dependent depressions. Clinical and polygraphic studies (in French). C
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Compared with placebo, 12 grams of inositol were administered daily to 13
patients with clinical depression resulted in significant improvement. Levine J
et al: Double-blind controlled trial of inositol treatment of depression. Am J
Psychiatry 152(5):792-4, 1995.
33% of 123 patients with acute clinical depression or schizophrenia were
found to be folate deficient. After treatment with methylfolate or placebo for 6
months in addition to their standard psychiatric drugs, those given methylfolate
had experienced a significantly improved clinical and social recovery. Procter
A: Enhancement of recovery from psychiatric illness by methylfolate. Br J
Psychiatry 159:271-2, 1991.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies testing the use of the herb
St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) against mild to moderately severe
depression found that Hypericum extracts were significantly superior to placebo
and equally as effective as standard antidepressant drugs. Side effects occurred
in 19.8% of Hypericum patients, as compared with 52.8% of patients on standard
antidepressants. Linde K et al: St John's wort for depression - an overview and
meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials. BMJ 313(7052):253-8, 1996.
The usefulness of s-adenosyl methionine as an antidepressant has been
confirmed in several clinical trials. Compared with standard antidepressant
medications it has few side effects. Vahora SA et al: S-adenosylmethionine in
the treatment of depression. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 12(2):139-41, 1988.
