Barry Blackwell and Kanellos Charalampous: Kanellos Charalampous: Confronting the Zeitgeist
John Smythies’ comment
I was never directly involved in work on the "pink spot" nor is there any evidence that mescaline-like metabolites occur in the human body whether in health or disease. However, there is good evidence that the psychotomimetic agent adrenochrome occurs in the brain in normal subjects. The adrenergic neurons of the C1 group in the medulla contain neuromelanin and adrenochrome is a mandatory ingredient in the biosynthesis of neuromelanin. So, it is remarkable that no one has followed up this clue by examining whether the brains from schizophrenic patients contain any abnormalities in the neuromelanin content of the C1 neurons in the medulla.
On another tack, the transmethylation hypothesis has recently taken new life by the observation that brains in MDD and in schizophrenia show abnormalities in DNA methylation, which is a key mechanism modulating the synthesis of brain proteins. This may be the long-missing explanation for the old observation by Seymour Kety that the methyl donor l-methionine exacerbates the symptoms of chronic schizophrenics
John Smythies
August 25, 2016