Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:04:43.611Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Urinary Excretion of Adenosine 3’: 5′-Cyclic Monophosphate in Depressive Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Graham J. Naylor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland
David A. Stansfield
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee
Susan F. Whyte
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Dundee; Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, S.W.1
Frederick Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Regional Physics Department, 7 Dudhope Terrace, Dundee

Extract

Changes in the excretion of adenosine 3’:5′-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) have been reported in depressive illness. Abdulla and Hamadah (1970) reported that urinary cyclic AMP excretion was lower than normal during depression and increased with recovery. However, these results were based on single 24-hour urine collections during depression and on recovery, with no creatinine estimations to suggest that the collections were complete. There was no control of diet, drugs or activity. The controls do not appear to have been matched for age. Paul, Ditzion, Pauk and Janowsky (1970) reported that the cyclic AMP excretion in neurotic depression was higher and in psychotic depression was lower than in a control group, but neither difference was statistically significant. However, on enlarging the study by including more psychotic depressives they reported that the cyclic AMP excretion of this group was significantly less than that of the controls (Paul, Cramer and Goodwin, 1971). These workers had controlled the patients' drug and dietary (but not fluid) intake. There appeared to be only minimal control of activity. The results were based on approximately two samples of urine per subject, which were very carefully checked for completeness of collection. Unfortunately the age of the controls (19–22 years) was very different from that of the patients (25–64 years). On two small groups of patients treated with either Laevodopa or lithium carbonate, they reported that changes in affective state were accompanied by changes in the urinary excretion of cyclic AMP. However, in serial studies on manic-depressive patients Paul, Cramer and Bunney (1971) failed to show a correlation between mood rating and cyclic AMP excretion in five out of seven patients; but they reported that the cyclic AMP excretion was increased on the day of rapid switch from depression to mania. The above groups of workers had used an enzymatic-isotope displacement technique to estimate the cyclic AMP. Brown, Salway, Albano, Hullin and Ekins (1972), using a saturation method to assay cyclic AMP, found no correlation between mood and cyclic AMP excretion in two short-cycle manic-depressive patients. Jenner, Sampson, Thompson, Somerville, Beard and Smith (1972) wrote: ‘We have measured daily excretion by a number of depressed and manic depressive patients over periods covering several mood changes without being able to establish any consistent correlation between cyclic AMP excretion and mood, … However, in one unusual case we have found a very marked correlation‘. We (Naylor, Dick, Dick, Moody and Stansfield, 1974) were unable to demonstrate any relationship between urinary cyclic AMP excretion and mood in a patient with recurrent psychotic episodes, in which depressive features predominated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1974 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdulla, Y. H. & Hamadah, K. (1970) 3′,5′ Cyclic adenosine monophosphate in depression and mania. Lancet, i, 378—81.Google Scholar
Broadus, A. E., Kaminsky, N. I., Hardman, J. E., Sutherland, E. W. & Liddle, G. W. (1970) Kinetic parameters and renal clearances of plasma adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate and guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate in man. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 49, 2222—36.Google Scholar
Brown, B. L., Albano, J. D. M., Ekins, R. P., Sgherzi, A. M. & Tampion, W. (1971) A simple and sensitive saturation assay method for the measurement of adenosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate. Biochemical Journal, 121, 561—2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, B. L., Salway, J. G., Albano, J. D. M., Hullin, R. P. & Ekins, R. P. (1972) Urinary excretion of cyclic AMP and manic-depressive psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 405—8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carney, M. W. P., Roth, M. & Garside, R. F. (1965) The diagnosis of depressive syndromes and the prediction of ECT response. British Journal of Psychiatry, 111, 659—82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cramer, H., Goodwin, F. K., Post, R. M. & Bunney, W. E. (1972) Effects of probenecid and exercise on cerebrospinal-fluid cyclic AMP in affective illness. Lancet, i, 1346—7.Google Scholar
Eccleston, D., Loose, R., Pullar, I. A. & Sugden, R. F. (1970) Exercise and urinary excretion of cyclic AMP. Lancet, ii, 612—3.Google Scholar
Jenner, F. A., Sampson, G. A., Thompson, E. A., Somerville, A. R., Beard, N. A. & Smith, A. A. (1972) Manic-depressive psychosis and urinary excretion of cyclic AMP. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 236—7.Google Scholar
Kendell, R. E. (1968) The Classification of Depressive Illness. London.Google Scholar
Naylor, G. J., Dick, D. A. T., Dick, E. G., Moody, J. P. & Stansfield, D. A. A biochemical study of a short-cycle manic-depressive psychosis. In preparation.Google Scholar
Paul, M. I., Cramer, H. & Bunney, W. E. (1971) Urinary adenosine 3′,5′ monophosphate in the switch process from depression to mania. Science, 171, 300303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paul, M. I., Cramer, H. & Goodwin, F. K. (1971) Urinary cyclic AMP excretion in depression and mania. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 327—33.Google Scholar
Paul, M. I., Ditzion, B. R., Pauk, G. L. & Janowsky, D. S. (1970) Urinary adenosine 3′,5′ monophosphate excretion in affective disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 1493—7.Google Scholar
Robison, G. A., Coppen, A. J., Whybrow, P. C. & Prange, A. J. (1970) Cyclic AMP in affective disorders. Lancet, ii, 1028—9.Google Scholar
Varley, H. (1969) Practical Clinical Biochemistry, 4th edn., p. 197. London.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.