A BIOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL SUGGESTION ABOUT CERTAIN MENTAL DISORDERS

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Abstract
Experiments on laboratory mice showed that several synthetic compounds and the ergot alkaloids, which are related structurally to the hormone-like substance, serotonin, antagonize the action of serotonin on artery walls. Since a derivative of the ergot alkaloids, lysergic acid diethylamide, acts as an antimetabolite of serotonin on smooth muscles and can produce in man mental disturbances similar to schizophrenia, these disturbances may be due to an interference with the action of serotonin in the brain. Similar effects were found for yohimbine and the harmala alkaloids which resemble serotonin structurally, and also for the synthetic compounds medmain and hydrazinophthalazine. It is possible that the natural occurrence of schizophrenia is due to a deficiency of serotonin in the central nervous system, in which case it is suggested that serotonin or a long-acting derivative of it be given to human mental patients.