Pubdate: Sun, 24 Feb 2008
Source: Sunday Herald, The (UK)
Copyright: 2008 Sunday Herald
Contact:  http://www.sundayherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/873

LSD BREAKTHROUGH FOR MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS

Research Unveils Link Between Hallucinogen And  Psychotic
Delusions

It's A hallucinogenic drug that was once hailed as a  promising
psychiatric therapy before being banned amid  concerns over
recreational use - now scientists believe  LSD could hold the key to
new drug treatments for  illnesses such as schizophrenia.

A team of American researchers has discovered a  biological link
between LSD "acid trips" and psychotic  delusions in the brain. Both
states can cause  hallucinations and feelings of disassociation from
reality, and now scientists have uncovered what they  share at a
biochemical level. They say this could open  the door to promising new
drug treatments for psychotic  illnesses such as schizophrenia, and
bipolar disorder,  which is also known as manic depression.

LSD was first produced by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann  in 1938 and
quickly became a therapeutic agent that  appeared to show great
promise. Between 1950 and 1965,  the drug and other hallucinogens
generated hundreds of  scientific papers and were prescribed to more
than  40,000 patients.

But it also became a popular recreational drug and by  the late 1960s
was outlawed around the world as a  threat to public safety. In recent
years, however,  there has been renewed interest in the drug's
therapeutic potential and in 2006, the Royal College of  Psychiatrists
discussed its use at its annual meeting  for the first time in more
than 30 years.

The new research hinges around a pair of receptors in  the brain that
bind together to form a functional  complex.

Receptors are protein "locks" that trigger biological  responses when
the right shaped molecular "keys" latch  on to them.

The receptor complex identified in the research  switches on responses
to drugs such as LSD, and  psilocybin - the active ingredient in
"magic  mushrooms". It is also involved in schizophrenia.

One of the two receptors, mGluR2, reacts to glutamate  and the other,
2AR, responds to serotonin. Both  chemicals are neurotransmitters,
which help to pass  messages between nerves.

The receptors normally work together in a balanced way,  said the
scientists, who reported their findings in the  online edition of the
journal "Nature".

In brains removed from untreated schizophrenia  patients, 2AR is
over-active and mGluR2 under-active.  The researchers believe this is
a pattern that could  predispose people to psychosis. Schizophrenic
patients  treated with newer anti-psychotic drugs such as  Clozapine
had brains in which the 2AR receptor was  downregulated.

Hallucinations and delusions associated with psychosis  usually reduce
with age, which may be a reflection of  reduced 2AR-mGluR2 activity as
people get older, said  the scientists.

The team, led by Dr Stuart Sealfon from New York's  Mount Sinai School
of Medicine, wrote: "These studies  identify the 2AR-mGluR2 complex as
a possible site of  action of hallucinogenic drugs. The glutamate and
serotonin systems have both been implicated in  psychotic disorders,
and the components of this complex  are found to be differentially
regulated in cortex from  individuals with schizophrenia.

"Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that  the 2AR-mGluR2
complex integrates serotonin and  glutamate signalling to regulate the
sensory gating  functions of the cortex - a process that is disrupted
in psychosis."

The research has been welcomed by mental health  campaigners. Marjorie
Wallace, chief executive of  charity SANE, said: "We hope these
findings will create  a better understanding of precisely how
medications  work on the brain and lead to direct improvements in  the
kinds of drug treatments available for people with  psychosis.

"Currently, limitations in knowledge of how the drugs  work mean that
people given medication do not respond,  doses may be too high, and
the side effects can  outweigh the benefits.

"Finding new drugs tailored to a person's individual  biochemistry
would mean that thousands of people with  severe mental illness could
look forward to a brighter  future."
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