Abstract
This paper reviews the work available to date suggesting that elements of the one-carbon cycle may be involved in psychiatric illnesses. Two enzymes of the one-carbon cycle (in erythrocytes) – methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) and serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) – have been reported by our group to be underactive in schizophrenia and depression and overactive in mania. This correlates with the reported anti-depressant effects of S-adenosylmethionine in humans. SHMT has also been found by another group to be underactive in serum of schizophrenics. This defect appears to be linked to abnormalities in the distribution of phospholipids in the membrane, with a relative deficiency of phosphatidylcholine and a relative excess of phosphatidylserine. Evidence showing that medications do not appear to be responsible for these findings will be presented. A review is then made of the role of transmethylation systems for lipids and proteins in cellular control systems. Lipid transmethylation is related in many systems to receptor-final messenger coupling and so to information transfer across the membrane. Protein methylation is involved in many cellular systems including chemotaxis in bacteria and leucocytes, neurotransmitter release, sperm motility and calmodulin function.
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Smythies, J.R. et al. (1986). Role of the One-Carbon Cycle in Neuropsychiatry. In: Borchardt, R.T., Creveling, C.R., Ueland, P.M. (eds) Biological Methylation and Drug Design. Experimental Biology and Medicine, vol 12. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5012-8_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5012-8_29
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