Does disturbed homocysteine and folate metabolism in depression result from enhanced oxidative stress?
In their recent article, Bottiglieri et al describe increased homocysteine concomitant with decreased folate concentrations in a subgroup of patients with depression. 1 In addition, some relation between reduced folate availability and disturbed monoamine metabolism was found. The close relation between increased homocysteine and reduced folate concentrations, which was described previously in other clinical conditions such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is usually ascribed to a reduced dietary intake of folate, and dietary supplementation with folate is capable of reducing hyperhomocysteinaemia. The coincidence described of disturbed homocysteine and monoamine metabolism may shed some additional light to the possible mechanism underlying this metabolic abnormality.
