Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is published evidence for increased oxidative stress in neuropsychiatric disorders.

BackgroundThe range of the fatty acids has been largely investigated in the plasma and erythrocytes of patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders. In this paper we investigate, for the first time, whether the study of the platelet fatty acids from such patients may be facilitated by means of artificial neural networks.MethodsVenous blood samples were taken from 84 patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of major depressive disorder and from 60 normal control subjects without a history of clinical depression. Platelet levels of the following 11 fatty acids were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance: C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1 n-9, C18:1 n-7, C18:2 n-6, C18:3 n-3, C20:3 n-3, C20:4 n-6 and C22:6 n-3. The results were then entered into a wide variety of different artificial neural networks.ResultsAll the artificial neural networks tested gave essentially the same result. However, one type of artificial neural network, the self-organizing map, gave superior information by allowing the results to be described in a two-dimensional plane with potentially informative border areas. A series of repeated and independent self-organizing map simulations, with the input parameters being changed each time, led to the finding that the best discriminant map was that obtained by inclusion of just three fatty acids.ConclusionOur results confirm that artificial neural networks may be used to analyze platelet fatty acids in neuropsychiatric disorder. Furthermore, they show that the self-organizing map, an unsupervised competitive-learning network algorithm which forms a nonlinear projection of a high-dimensional data manifold on a regular, low-dimensional grid, is an optimal type of artificial neural network to use for this task.

In our study we have evaluated the theme of the platelet fatty acid composition in subjects with a clinical diagnosis of Major Depression (MD), in subjects with a clinical diagnosis of Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) according to the coronary angiography and in control subjects. We have analyzed all the groups without taking in account therapies, gender and age. As far as we know, the platelet fatty acid composition has never been analyzed before, in MD. The results obtained with the Self Organizing Map (SOM) show the evidence of three fatty acids, Arachidonic Acid (AA), Linoleic Acid (LA), and Palmitic Acid (PA) in a peculiar position with respect to the biochemical characterization of MD and three fatty acids, Arachidonic Acid (AA), Linoleic Acid (LA) and Oleic Acid (OA) in a peculiar position with respect to the biochemical characterization of the IHD. Bio molecular considerations are made about the possibility of controlling positive changes in platelet viscosity, in both pathologies.

Many current mainstream neuropsychiatric models show inconsistencies, equivocal evidence and failure to explain neuropsychiatric illness. Completely new approaches could help greatly to improve the current situation. A very promising pathway seems to be quantum models of mind, brain, and consciousness; however, an open question is how to link them to the psychiatric world. Cytoskeletal proteins have been credibly proposed as a starting point, but the cell membrane should be taken into account as well. In fact, G-protein dynamics and membrane fatty acid profiles are deeply involved in classical mechanisms of psychiatric illness, and additionally they may play a much different though important role within quantum models of mind, brain, and consciousness. Indeed, G-protein dynamics and membrane fatty acid profiles may represent a substantial bridge between the psychiatric world and quantum theories. Might the nexus of cell membrane investigations therefore lead to a diagnostic tool able to identify psychopathology in a way also comprehensible in terms of a patient's altered conscious state? Toward the end of answering this question, brain cell membranes should be studied, but some experimental clues suggest that platelet membranes may ultimately provide an alternative practical assay with the virtues of low cost and ease of accessibility. In any case, cell membranes (i.e. G-protein dynamics and/or fatty acid profiles) show much promise as a starting point for the linkage of psychiatry to quantum models of mind, brain, and consciousness.

Background Cigarette smoking is believed to cause oxidative stress by several mechanisms, including direct damage by radical species and the inflammatory response induced by smoking, and would therefore be expected to cause increased lipid peroxidation. The aim was to carry out the first study of the relationship of smoking in humans to the level of n -3 lipid peroxidation indexed by the level of ethane in exhaled breath. Methods Samples of alveolar air were obtained from 11 smokers and 18 non-smokers. The air samples were analyzed for ethane using mass spectrometry. Results The two groups of subjects were matched with respect to age and gender. The mean cumulative smoking status of the smokers was 11.8 (standard error 2.5) pack-years. The mean level of ethane in the alveolar breath of the group of smokers (2.53 (0.55) ppb) was not significantly different from that of the group of non-smokers (2.59 (0.29) ppb; p = 0.92). With all 29 subjects included, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient between ethane levels and cumulative smoking status was -0.11 ( p = 0.58), while an analysis including only the smokers yielded a corresponding correlation coefficient of 0.11 ( p = 0.75). Conclusion Our results show no evidence that cigarette smoking is related to increased n -3 lipid peroxidation as measured by expired ethane.

This work aims to be a reflection concerning a remarkable similarity between platelet and neuron. Through a series of experimental tests which have affected the fatty acid composition of the membrane of platelets, it was possible to provide a contribution to the scientific literature, which had already reported strong similarities between platelet and neuron. The work performed could be of great interest to investigate, by studying the interactome of the platelet, the molecular behavior of the neuron.

The biomolecular approach to major depression disorder is explained by the different steps that involve cell membrane viscosity, Gsα protein and tubulin. For the first time it is hypothesised that a biomolecular pathway exists, moving from cell membrane viscosity through Gsα protein and Tubulin, which can condition the conscious state and is measurable by electroencephalogram study of the brain's γ wave synchrony.

Cell membrane's fatty acids (FAs) have been carefully investigated in neurons and platelets in order to study a possible connection to psychopathologies. An important link between the FA distribution and membrane dynamics appears to emerge with the cytoskeleton dynamics. Microtubules (MTs) in particular have been implicated in some recent quantum consciousness models and analyses. The recently proposed quantum model of Craddock et al. (2014) states that MTs possess structural and functional characteristics that are consistent with collective quantum coherent excitations in the aromatic groups of their tryptophan residues. These excitations are consistent with a clocking mechanism on a sub-nanosecond scale. This mechanism and analogous phenomena in light-harvesting complexes in plants and bacteria, are induced by photons and have been touted as evidence of quantum processes in biology. A possible source of intra-cellular photons could be membrane lipid peroxidation processes, so the FA profile could then be linked to the bio-photon emission. The model presented here suggests new ways to understand the role serotonin plays in relation to FAs. In plants, tryptophan conversion of light to exciton energy can participate in the directional orientation of leaves toward sunlight. Since serotonin is structurally similar to tryptophan, in the human brain, neurons could use tryptophan to capture photons and also use serotonin to initiate movement toward the source of light. Hence, we postulate two possible new roles for serotonin: (1) as an antioxidant, in order to counter-balance the oxidative effect of FAs, and (2) to participate in quantum interactions with MTs, in the same way as anesthetics and psychoactive compounds have been recently shown to act. In this latter case, the FA profile could provide an indirect measure of serotonin levels.