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http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1999/articles/1999-v14n01-p049.shtml
The Adrenochrome Hypothesis and Psychiatry
A. Hoffer, M.D. Ph.D. and H. Osmond, M.D.
First published in Journal of Orthomolecu-lar Medicine, Vol. 5, No.1, 1990
>http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1999/articles/1999-v14n01-p049.shtml
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Introduction
The adrenochrome hypothesis of schizophrenia (Hoffer, Osmond and Smythies, 1954),was stimulated by the work of Osmond and Smythies (1952) which focused on methylated derivatives of adrenalin as possible endogenous schizophrenogens. They showed that the experience which followed the ingestion of mescaline was in many ways similar to the experience induced in normal people by schizophrenia. This drew attention to derivatives of adrenalin (and of all the sympathomimetic amines and their precursors)as etiological factors. However, in 1952 very few of these compounds had been studied.With our resources we were forced to limit our studies to one derivative, adrenochrome, an oxidized, coloured derivative of adrenalin.So little was known about its chemistry it was not surprising chemists had concluded, in-correctly, it was inherently unstable and difficult to study. We allocated much of our chemical researches to this interesting sub-stance. As a result, under the direction ofDr. R. Heacock (1959, 1965), an enormous body of data was gathered and published detailing the chemistry of adrenochrome, its synthesis, metabolism, conversion to other products and its reactions with substances like ascorbic acid.
Conclusion
The aminochromes undoubtedly are involved in almost every reaction in which catecholamines play a part. A vast new area has now opened for physiological and bio-chemical research. Thus, Ganguly (1989)and Ganguly, Beamish and Dhalla (1989)state “…oxidation products of catecholamines, such as adrenochrome, rather than catecholamines per se, may be involved incatecholamine-induced myocardial cell damage. Previous studies have revealed that adrenochrome is capable of inducing coronary spasm, arrhythmias, ultrastructural changes and ventricular dysfunction.” They suggest damage caused by pheochromocytomas is due to adrenochrome. Extra adrenaline is oxidized when other mechanisms for inactivating catecholamines are saturated. Catecholamines are involved in stress reactions and are neurotransmitters. Any compound (drug) which potentiates or inhibits the reactivity of catecholamines will be modulated by the presence of the corresponding aminochromes. The action of all the tranquilizers, antidepressants, and other psychoactive drugs will have to be reevaluated. It is likely subjects low in aminochromes will respond differently than subjects with high blood levels. Aminochromes will surely have very important functions. They are not only by-products of catecholamine oxidation. It is necessary to reexamine Dr. F. E. Barr’s very important work, “Melanin: The Organizing Molecule” (1983). In his abstract Barr wrote:“The hypothesis is advanced that (neuro)-melanin (in conjunction with other pigment molecules such as the isopentenoids) functions as the major organizational molecule in living systems. Melaninis depicted as an organizational “trigger”capable of using established properties such as photon-(electron)-photon conversions, free radical-redox mechanisms, ion exchange mechanisms, and semiconductive switching capabilities to direct energy to strategic molecular systems and sensitive hierarchies of protein enzyme cascades. Melanin is held capable of regulating a wide range of molecular interactions and metabolic processes primarily through its effective control of diverse covalent modifications.”The main question remains. Is the schizophrenic syndrome caused by an oxidation-reduction state which: (1) favours excess formation of aminochromes; (2) inhibits the elimination of these amino-chromes. The evidence which favours this hypothesis is stronger than ever. Only re-search, exemplified by cardiovascular re-search scientists, will provide the evidence we need. Will psychiatry once more lag several decades behind in examining these issues?
>It is necessary to reexamine Dr. F. E.Barr’s very important work, “Melanin: The Organizing Molecule” (1983). In his abstract Barr wrote:“The hypothesis is advanced that (neuro)-melanin (in conjunction with other pigment molecules such as the isopentenoids) functions as the major organizational molecule in living systems. Melaninis depicted as an organizational “trigger”capable of using established properties such as photon-(electron)-photon conversions, free radical-redox mechanisms, ion exchange mechanisms, and semiconductive switching capabilities to direct energy to strategic molecular systems and sensitive hierarchies of protein enzyme cascades. Melanin
>Dr. F. E. Barr’s very important work, “Melanin: The Organizing Molecule” (1983).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6135975/
>Previous studies have revealed that adrenochrome is capable of inducing coronary spasm, arrhythmias, ultrastructural changes and ventricular dysfunction.” They suggest damage caused by pheochromocytomas is due to adrenochrome.