Depressive disorders biochemistry

Green AR and Costain DW (1979). The biochemistry of depression. In ES Paykel and A Coppen (eds), Psychopharmacology of Affective Disorders (pp. 14 40). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 

Amines in depression. There are grounds for the postulation of at least two biochemically distinct types of endogenous depression and their association with disorders of noradrenergic and serotoninergic functions (see e.g. [480,481]). Attempts to define the biochemistry of human depression include the use of GC-MS methods for the determination in CSF of the principal metabolites of the transmitters in untreated patients and in monitoring their concentration during antidepressant therapy. 

The Affective Disorders Manic Depressive Psychoses Lithium in the Affective Disorders A. Side Effects Chemistry Isotopes of Lithium Inorganic Biochemistry Mechanisms of Action Lithium and the Phosphoinositide Signaling System Lithium and the Cell Membrane A. Sodium-Lithium Exchange Anion Exchange Leak... 

Serotonin has been found to influence sleeping, the regulation of body temperature, and sensory perception, but its exact role in mental illness is not yet clear. Unusually low levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, a product of serotonin utilization, are characteristically found in the spinal fluid of victims of violent suicide. Drugs that mimic serotonin are sometimes used to treat depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Serotonin blockers are used to treat migraine headaches and relieve the nausea that accompanies cancer chemotherapy. A better understanding of the biochemistry of the brain may lead to better medications for treating various forms of mental illness. 

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