“Add-On”-therapy with an individualized preparation consisting of free amino acids for patients with a major depression

Abstract

The efficacy of a deficit oriented add-on therapy with free amino acids in depressive patients treated with the antidepressant Remeron was evaluated. About 40 in-patients were investigated by a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study during 4 weeks. Plasma levels of 20 amino acids and measures of depression, suicidal behaviour and aggression were surveyed on admission and after a 4 weeks' therapy with Remeron plus an individualized amino acid mixture or placebo. The preparation of the amino acid mixture was based on an aminogram and consisted of essential amino acids plus vitamins and trace elements as co-factors for the amino acid metabolism. Patients of the experimental group showed a significantly better improvement of depression and a higher responder rate than those of the placebo group. The results suggest that oral application of a deficit oriented amino acid mixture can improve the therapeutic outcome of an antidepressant. Furthermore, lacking side effects of the amino acids resulting also in a better patient compliance may improve the benefit/risk ratio.

The effects of short intensive exercise on plasma free amino acids in standardbred trotters

“…Some questions may arise if valid methods of detection were used for glutamine and homocysteine, which commonly are analysed by more complex techniques. Homocysteine was not analysed in this trial, but the method used appeared sensitive enough to detect it in human plasma (Ille et al., 2007). In fact, comparable concentrations were found to those reported by Berhane et al.…”

“…Ethylene‐diamine tetraacetate plasma samples were analysed for lactate levels using a UV‐test kit (UV‐test kit for lactate, Boehringer ® Mannheim, Darmstadt, Germany), for total protein using Biuret method (Blood Safety and Clinical Technology; http://www.searo.who.int) and for alanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, arginine, histidine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, glutamine, glutamate, asparagine, aspartate, citrulline, glycine, tyrosine, serine, taurine, ornithine and 3‐methylhistidine by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method (Godel et al., 1992). This method was used by one of us in a recent human study (Ille et al., 2007) in which the same AA panel was analysed. The level of quantification of the AA with the method was 2 μ mol/l.…”

Psychobiological differences between depression and somatization

“…The availability of amino acids depends on processes during stress, diseases, and on food composition factors [88]. In addition, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as one of the food composition factors are consistently found to play a role in major depression and other depressive syndromes, with a reduction in omega-3 [89] and an imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA [90].…”

Adjunctive nutraceuticals with standard pharmacotherapies in bipolar disorder: a systematic review of clinical trials

“…These include a modulation of epigenetics or methylation pathways, increased enzymatic cataclysm of neurochemicals, or modification of membrane receptor/channel/secondary messenger communication (9, 10). Examples of potential effects of combining nutrients with pharmacotherapies in BD include: amino acid administration (or depletion regimes) modifying dopamine or serotonin synthesis (11, 12); anti‐inflammation, modulation of cell signal transduction, and phosphoinositide (PI)‐protein kinase C antagonism from essential fatty acids (13–16); N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor modulation via nutraceuticals that down‐regulate the excitory glutamate pathway or via calcium/sodium channel regulation, e.g., zinc or magnesium (8, 17); and antioxidant activity such as from N‐acetyl cysteine (NAC) (18).…”