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Biomedical subjects

G J Naylor

Publications and source records attributed to G J Naylor.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Further studies of vanadium in depressive psychosis.

Three studies are reported. In study 1, vanadium concentration was estimated by neutron activation analysis in hair, whole blood, serum and urine from 13 patients suffering from depressive psychosis and then when on recovery. Vanadium concentration of hair, whole blood and serum decreased significantly with recovery, but there was no significant change in 24-h urinary excretion or in renal clearance of vanadium. In study 2, vanadium concentration was estimated by neutron activation analysis in serum and urine of 31 patients with depressive psychosis and of 27 normal controls. Mean renal clearance of vanadium was significantly lower and mean serum vanadium concentration significantly higher in depressed patients than in controls. Mean 24-h excretion of vanadium did not differ between the two groups. Vanadium excretion did not correlate with urine volume, with serum concentration or with age. In study 3, erythrocyte Na-K ATPase activity and serum vanadium concentrations were estimated in 58 patients. There was a strong negative correlation between the two, supporting the suggestion that changes in tissue vanadium concentration may explain the changes in sodium transport which occur in depressive psychosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A two-year double-blind crossover trial of the prophylactic effect of methylene blue in manic-depressive psychosis.

A 2-year prophylactic trial was carried out in 31 bipolar manic-depressive subjects, comparing 300 mg/day methylene blue on a double-blind crossover basis with 15 mg/day. All patients were also maintained on lithium. Seventeen patients completed the 2-year trial. During the year the patients were treated with methylene blue at 300 mg/day, they were significantly less depressed than during the year on 15 mg/day. No significant difference in the severity of manic symptoms was shown. The trial had obvious limitations, e.g., a small number of subjects, a relatively large number of dropouts, relatively simple rating scales, doubts about blindness, and uncertainty as to whether or not 15 mg methylene blue per day could be considered a placebo. However, the results suggest that methylene blue may be a useful addition to lithium in the long-term treatment of manic-depressive psychosis and warrants further investigation.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1985

A double blind placebo controlled trial of ascorbic acid in obesity.

A double blind placebo controlled trial of ascorbic acid was carried out in 41 severely obese subjects. 38 patients completed the 6 week trial. 19 received 3g of ascorbic acid per day, 19 received placebo. The weight loss during the trial was small in both groups but was significantly greater in the ascorbic acid treated group.

Ascorbic Acid↗
PubMed1985

A double-blind out-patient trial of indalpine vs mianserin.

Indalpine 150 mg per day and mianserin 60 mg per day were compared in a double-blind study of 65 depressed out-patients: 52 patients completed the 4-week trial. At the end of four weeks there was no significant difference in antidepressant effect between the two drugs; but in the first two weeks, improvement in the mianserin-treated group was significantly greater than that in the indalpine group. The mianserin-treated group reported more side-effects of sedation (eg. drowsiness, clumsiness, heaviness of limbs etc.) and one patient on indalpine developed a mild leucopenia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The therapeutic effect of ascorbic acid and EDTA in manic-depressive psychosis: double-blind comparisons with standard treatments.

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.

Amitriptyline↗
PubMed1984

Tissue vanadium levels in manic-depressive psychosis.

The vanadium content of hair, whole blood, serum and urine was estimated by neutron activation analysis in samples from manic patients, depressed patients, recovered manic patients, recovered depressed patients and normal controls. The results suggest that manic patients have significantly raised vanadium levels in hair which fall towards control levels with recovery, but there are no significant differences in the mean vanadium content of whole blood or serum. In contrast, depressed patients have raised levels of vanadium in whole blood and serum which appear to fall with recovery. Levels of vanadium in serum correlate strongly with those in whole blood, but neither shows significant correlation with vanadium in hair for either patients or controls. Hair and blood probably serve as indicator tissues for differing aspects of vanadium metabolism.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Vanadium and manic depressive psychosis.

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.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Elevated vanadium content of hair and mania.

Vanadium content of hair from manic patients, recovered patients, and normal controls was measured by neutron activation analysis. The mean vanadium content of the hair of the manic group was significantly higher than that of the control group and that of the group of recovered manics.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Catalysis of the reduction of vanadate by psychotropic drugs.

It has been suggested that vanadium may be of aetiological importance in manic depressive psychosis. Therefore, the ability of psychotropic drugs to catalyze the reduction of vanadate ion by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) was investigated. The most active drug was methylene blue but all the phenothiazines and all the monoamine oxidase inhibitors tested showed catalytic activity. A large number of drugs showed no catalytic activity, eg. tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

Catalysis↗
PubMed1983

Methylene blue. A possible treatment for manic depressive psychosis.

Methylene blue was given to patients who had failed to respond to standard therapies. Of the 19 manic depressives who received oral methylene blue, 14 were judged to show definite improvement, 3 patients in whom the diagnosis was uncertain showed no beneficial response.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Factor VIII-related antigen and procoagulant activity in manic-depressive patients.

Factor VIII-related antigen (VIIIR:AG) and procoagulant activity (VIII:C) were measured at weekly intervals in 11 manic-depressive patients during their hospital stay. There were significant correlations between VIII:C (P less than 0.02), VIIIR:AG (P less than 0.05) and the number of hospital admissions over a 10-year period. The patients' VIIIR:AG showed a wider range of results as compared to a control group (P less than 0.01). The age of onset of the disease (but not the age of the patient) was related to VIIIR:AG (P less than 0.02).

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Erythrocyte ouabain binding in dementia.

Age-matched patients attending a geriatric psychiatry day hospital, one group with Alzheimer's dementia and another with functional illness, were studied and compared with similar inpatient groups. Erythrocyte ouabain binding was assayed and Clifton ratings completed. In day hospital patients ouabain binding was significantly lower in the demented group (p less than 0.008) than in the functional group. There was a positive correlation between Clifton ratings and ouabain in the whole group (p less than 0.05). No significant differences were found in inpatient groups. Possible reasons for findings are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

The effect of digoxin on the response to lithium therapy in mania.

Patients suffering from manic-depressive psychosis, manic type (ICD 296.0), were treated with lithium carbonate and randomly allocated to two groups, one received digoxin and the other matching placebo for 7 days. Severity of mania was rated by psychiatrists on the Manic Rating Scale and Analogue Line on days 0 and 7 and by nurses daily on the Hargreaves Rating Scale, Psychotic Rating. Fourteen patients received digoxin and lithium carbonate and 14 patients received placebo and lithium carbonate. Improvement in the placebo lithium group was significantly greater than that in the digoxin lithium group. This trial suggests, therefore, that the effect of inhibition of membrane cation carrier is to reduce the response to lithium. This result is in keeping with our hypothesis that an increase in Na-K ATPase is essential to the therapeutic effect of lithium carbonate. It does not, however, exclude the possibility that the observations resulted from the inhibition by digoxin of lithium entry into the brain.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Plasma vanadium concentration in manic-depressive illness.

133 samples of plasma taken from 9 normal control and 8 manic-depressive subjects were analysed for vanadium by atomic absorption spectrometry. Mean plasma vanadium concentrations were 0 . 15 microM in normal control, 0 . 34 microM in manic and 0 . 28 microM in depressed subjects, and 0 . 23 microM in manic-depressive subjects after recovery. The differences between normal subjects and manic and recovered subjects were statistically significant. Significant negative correlations were found between plasma vanadium concentration and the ratio of Na-K-Mg ATPase to Mg-ATPase in 2 manic-depressive subjects, but not in normal subjects. The results suggest that vanadium may be a cause of the variations in Na-K-Mg ATPase and sodium pump activity which are associated with manic-depressive illness.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1982

Some biochemical findings during pregnancy and after delivery in relation to mood change.

Thirty-four women who had vaginal deliveries of live infants completed behavioural ratings and supplied blood and 24-hour urine samples on three occasions during pregnancy and on three occasions after delivery. Approximately one third of the women indicated a distinct upswing in mood between Days 2 and 4 following delivery. These "positive mood change' subjects showed changes in urinary cyclic AMP (adenosine 3'5' cyclic monophosphate), plasma cyclic AMP, whole blood cell cyclic AMP, whole blood cell ATP (adenosine triphosphate), haematocrit and urinary 11 OHCS (11-hydroxycortisol steroids) following delivery which were different from those observed in the rest of the subjects and comparable with the biochemical changes described during upswings in mood in short-cycle manic-depressive subjects. There was also an indication that the women showing this upswing in mood following delivery were distinct in some respects on both behavioural ratings and biochemical findings during pregnancy.

11-Hydroxycorticosteroids↗