Posted by Astounder on November 1, 2007, at 20:02:36
In reply to Re: Anyone tried Deplin? » KayeBaby, posted by Phillipa on October 27, 2007, at 14:00:24
This article explains the mechanism of Deplin (L-methylfolate):
http://www.cnsspectrums.com/aspx/article_pf.aspx?articleid=1267
The jist of it:
"Antidepressants boost the actions of one or more of the three monoamines: DA, NE, and/or 5-HT. MTHF acts as an important regulator of a critical co-factor for trimonoamine neurotransmitter synthesis. This co-factor is known as tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4).... By boosting trimonoamine neurotransmitter synthesis via enhancement of BH4, MTHF presumably is able to augment the antidepressant actions of known antidepressants."
So basically what it does is recycle BH4. BH4 is a necessary cofactor in the enzymatic conversion of L-phenylalanine to to L-tyrosine by phenylalanine hydroxylase, L-tyrosine to L-DOPA by tyrosine hydroxylase, L-tryptophan to 5-HTP by tryptophan hydroxylase. It is not a cofactor for the conversion of L-DOPA to dopamine or 5-HTP to serotonin by aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase.
Two questions: 1) Wouldn't this have the same effect as supplementing with 5-HTP + L-DOPA + carbidopa? And 2) couldn't you simply supplement BH4 directly? They do sell it online at a comparable cost to Deplin:
http://www.schircks.com/tablets/sys/tetrahydrobiopterin_tab_frame31.htm
BH4 100x 10 mg tablets = $113Quoted from Deplin website:
L-methylfolate 90x 7.5 mg tablets = $119.69
poster:Astounder
thread:784893
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071027/msgs/792814.html