SAMe: Natural Antidepressant

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SAMe: Natural Antidepressant JoAnn Guest Jul 11, 2003 15:06 PDT

Available Forms-

SAMe has been available commercially in Europe since 1975.

It is available in U.S. health-food stores as a nutritional supplement.

The commercial form of SAMe is a stabilized salt produced under U.S.

patent numbers 3,954,726 (1976) and 4,057,686 (1977).

 

Principal Uses

 

There are five principal conditions where SAMe is used:

 

Depression,

Bi-polar,

osteoarthritis,

Fibromyalgia,

liver disorders,

and migraine headaches.

 

Depression

 

SAMe is necessary in the manufacture of important brain compounds such

as neurotransmitters and phospholipids like phosphatidylcholine and

phosphatidylserine.

 

Supplementing the diet with SAMe in depressed patients results in

increased levels of serotonin, dopamine, and

phosphatidylserine.

 

It improves binding of neurotransmitters to

receptor sites, which causes increased serotonin and dopamine

activity and improved brain cell membrane fluidity, all resulting in

significant clinical improvement.

 

The antidepressive effects of folic acid (Vitamin B6) are mild

compared to the effects noted in clinical trials using SAMe.

 

Based on results from a number of clinical studies,

it appears that SAMe is perhaps the most effective natural

antidepressant and mood stabilizer,

(although a strong argument could be made for the extract of St. John's

Wort standardized to contain 0.3 percent hypericin) summarize

double-blind studies comparing SAMe to either a placebo or an

antidepressant drug.

 

Many of the studies cited used injectable SAMe. However, more recent

studies using a new oral preparation at a dosage

of 400 milligrams four times daily (1600 mg total) demonstrate that

SAM is just as effective orally as it is intravenously.

 

SAM is better tolerated and has a quicker onset of antidepressant action

 

than *tricyclic* antidepressants.

 

The most recent study compared SAMe to the tricyclic desipramine.

 

In addition to clinical response, the blood level of SAMe was

determined

in both groups. At the end of the 4-week trial, 62 percent of the

patients treated with SAMe compared with 50 percent of the patients

treated with

desipramine had significantly improved.

 

Regardless of the type of treatment, patients with a 50 percent

decrease in their Hamilton

Depression Scale (HAM-D) score showed a significant increase in

plasma SAMe concentration.

 

These results suggests that one of the ways

tricyclic drugs exert antidepressive effects is by raising SAMe levels.

 

In addition to generalized depression, there are two conditions

associated with depression where SAMe produces significant effects:

the postpartum (after pregnancy) period and drug rehabilitation.

 

SAMe's benefits in these conditions probably stem from a combination

of its effects on brain chemistry and liver function.

 

In the study in postpartum depression (after-pregnancy " blues " ), the

administration of SAMe (1,600 milligrams per day) produced significantly

 

better mood scores than a placebo group.

 

As for the use of SAMe in drug

detoxification, SAMe (1,200 milligrams daily) significantly reduced

psychological distress (chiefly anxiety and depression) in the

detoxification and rehabilitation of opiate abusers.

 

 

-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe)is an important *physiological* agent formed

in the body by combining the essential amino

acid methionine with adenosyl-triphosphate (ATP).

 

SAMe was discovered in Italy in 1952-- not surprisingly, most of the

research on SAM has been conducted in

the country of its discovery.

 

Food Sources

 

Because SAMe is manufactured from methionine,

you might think that dietary sources ofmethionine provide the same

benefits as SAMe.

However, high doses of methionine do not increase levels of SAMe, nor do

they provide

the same pharmacological activity as SAMe.

 

Deficiency Signs and Symptoms

 

Normally the body manufactures all the SAMe it needs from the amino acid

methionine.

However, a deficiency of methionine, vitamin B12, or folic acid can

result in decreased SAMe synthesis.

In addition, tissue levels of SAM are typically

low in the elderly and in patients suffering from osteoarthritis,

depression,and various liver disorders.

 

Beneficial Effects

 

SAM is involved in over 40 biochemical reactions in the body.

 

It functions closely with folic acid and vitamin B12 in " methylation "

reactions--the process of adding a single carbon unit (a methyl group)

to another molecule.

 

SAM is many times more effective in transferring

methyl groups than other methyl donors. Methylation reactions are

critical in the manufacture of many body components--- especially

brain chemical --and in detoxification reactions.

 

SAM is also required in the manufacture of all sulfur-containing

compounds in the human body, including glutathione and various

sulfur-containing cartilage components. The beneficial effects of SAMe

supplementation are far-reaching because of its central role in so

many metabolic processes.

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

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