Vitamin B6 and vitamin B1 status in acute psychosis

In the midst of our century, the biological concept of the pathogenesis of mental illness was launched. Several agents were discovered that mimic the symptoms of mental disease like LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and reserpine. It was found that LSD and serotonin (5HT) were structurally similar and that the breakdown products of 5HT had potent hallucinogenic properties. It was also known that the synthesis of 5HT and norepinephrine (NE) were pyridoxalphosphate (PLP), the active form of vitamin B6, dependent. However, definitive findings concerning the 5HT and NE alterations in psychotics are at present still inconclusive. The goal of our study is to look for changes between the vitamin B6 and vitamin B1 status of the patients and the different stages of psychosis. Preliminary findings show that vitamin B6 status in psychotic patients is phase dependent while vitamin B1 status is not.