Abstract
Several disorders maybe associated with increased concentrations of total homocysteine, including neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), depression. Homo cysteine can promote glutamate ex-citotoxicity through overstimulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, DNA damage and activation of apoptosis.
Thus, homocysteine can contribute to neuronal degeneration in age-related or stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders and etc. The homocysteine hypothesis of depression presumes that genetic and environmental factors elevate homocysteine levels, which cause vascular disease of the brain and/or neurotransmitter alterations, which in turn cause depression.
Depressive symptoms exacerbate pre-existing patient morbidity in about 50% of AD patients. Thus, there are important reasons for research of homocysteine concentrations in AD, depression and AD with depression, which conducted at Psychiatric Department of General University Hospital and 1st Medical School, Charles University in Prague.
Results of our research will be published soon.