Proper Name: Inositol

Common Name: Inositol

Evidence of Efficacy: statement to the effect of Inositol plays a role in reducing the symptoms of mood disorders. Observational and experimental studies have shown an association between Inositol and anxiety^1,2,3,4, bipolar disorder^{5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12}, depression^{13,14,15,16,17,18,19}, obsessive compulsive disorder^20,21,22, and schizophrenia ^23,24,25,26.              

References:

1. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167-75, 1995.

2. Levine J, Rapaport A, Lev L, et al. Inositol treatment raises CSF inositol levels. Brain Res 627(1):168-70, 1993.

3. Benjamin J, Levine J, Fux M, et al. Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of inositol treatment for panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry 152(7):1084-6, 1995.

4. Pfeiffer, Carl. Mental and Elemental Nutrients. New Canaan, CT. Keats Publishing Company, 1975.

5. Jonathan Benjamin – interviewed in Clinical Pearls News 6(2), 1996.

6. Levine J, Witztum E, Greenberg BD, et al. Inositol-induced mania? Am J Psychiatry 153(6):839, 1996.

7. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167-75, 1995.

8. Agam G, Shapiro Y, Bersudsky Y, et al. High-dose peripheral inositol raise brain inositol levels and reverses behavioral effects of inositol depletion by lithium. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 49(2):341-3, 1994.

9. Belmaker RH et al. How does lithium work on manic depression? clinical and psychological correlates of the inositol theory. Annu Rev Med 47:47-56, 1996.

10. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167:75, 1995.

11. Agam G, Shapiro Y, Bersudsky Y, et al. High-dose peripheral inositol raise brain inositol levels and reverses behavioral effects of inositol depletion by lithium. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 49(2):341-3, 1994.

12. Banks RE, Aiton JF, Cramb G, Naylor GJ. Incorporation of inositol into the phosphoinositides of lymphoblastoid cell lines established from bipolar manic-depressive patients. J Affect Dis 10(1):9-13, 1986.

13. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167-75, 1995.

14. Barkai AI, Dunner DL, Gross HA, et al. Reduced myo-inositol levels in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with affective disorder. Biol Psychiatry 13(1):65-72, 1978.

15. Levine J, Kurtzman L, Rapoport A, et al. CSF inositol does not predict antidepressant response to inositol. Short communication. J Neural Transm 103(12):1457-62, 1996.

16. Levine J, Rapaport A, Lev L, et al. Inositol treatment raises CSF inositol levels. Brain Res 627(1):168-70, 1993.

17. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167-75, 1995.

18. Levine J, Barak Y, Gonzalves M, et al. Double-blind, controlled trial of inositol treatment of depression. Am J Psychiatry 152(5):792-4, 1995.

19. Levine J, Barak Y, Kofman O, Belmaker RH. Follow-up and relapse analysis of an inositol study of depression. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Schi 32(1):14-21, 1995.

20. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167-75, 1995; Hoyter D, Clarke DE, Fozard JR, et al. International Union of Pharmacology classification of receptors for 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). Pharmacol Rev 46:157-203, 1994.

21. Rahman S, Neuman RS. Myo-inositol reduces serotonin (5-HT2) receptor induced homologous and heterologous desensitization. Brain Res 627(1):168-70, 1993.

22. Fux M, Levine J, Aviv A, Belmaker RH. Inositol treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am J Psychiatry 153(9):1219-21, 1996.

23. Benjamin J, Agam G, Levine J, et al. Inositol treatment in psychiatry. Psychopharmacol Bull 31(1):167-75, 1995.

24. Levine J, Goldberger I, Rapaprot A, et al. CSF inositol in schizophrenia and high-dose inositol treatment of schizophrenia. Eur Neuropsychopharmarol 494):487-90, 1994.

25. Ripova, D et al. Phospholipids and calcium alterations in platelets of schizophrenic patients. Physiol Res 46:59-68, 1997.