Psych meds & CamKII

[peglem]

I thought this was rather interesting, showing antidepressants to increase CamKII activity in certain parts of the brain. Also, though Lithium was shown to reduce CamKII activity, my daughter's rage episodes exploded (at a therapeutic level) for the week she was on it.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1261499...ogdbfrom=pubmed

[simplygina]

I thought this was rather interesting, showing antidepressants to increase CamKII activity in certain parts of the brain. Also, though Lithium was shown to reduce CamKII activity, my daughter's rage episodes exploded (at a therapeutic level) for the week she was on it.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1261499...ogdbfrom=pubmed

 

Well that would certainly explain why Zoloft made my son increasingly manic with each dose increase. He's down to 25 mg and the withdrawals have kept us there until he is further away from this exacerbation of PANDAS.

[trggirl]

I saw that study. Very interesting. I think so much more research needs to be done on the CamK II. The CamK being out of the normal range is the common link with our kids. Why is it out of line? What else activates it beyond strep? What is the Camk itself doing to the brain (or muscles) at those high levels? It affects neurotransmittors. It affects calcium. Some of them have an affect on smooth muscle. I think so many answers reside with the Camk.

[Allison]

Yes, I agree that much can be answered by a better understanding of CamK II. I don't really understand it at all, other than I've been told it's a clear indicator that my dd16 has Pandas (her Cunningham level was 200 in November.)

 

What is it? A protein? An antibody? What is it's function and role in our bodies? Why does a high level indicated inflamation in basal ganglia?

 

Maybe Dr. T can answer? Or Buster? Or any of your really smart folk out there who have been studying this far longer than I have.

 

A

[Buster]

Well, a Kinase is an enzyme that causes a state change in a cell. In neuronal cells, Cam Kinase II causes activation of the neuron. I'm happy to go into the science, but what you are probably asking is what does it do.

 

Well, to the best of my knowledge, CaM Kinase II (when applied to neuronal cells) regulates dopamine release. So if you have excessive amounts of CamKinase II you likely have a disfunction in dopamine processing and production. The problem isn't really whether you have too much dopamine or too little, but rather that it isn't regulated so the body can't quite get the right signal through -- think of the excessive CaM Kinase II as being interference. While the normal signal should be producing some of the signal, if a foreign substance creates it (say the antibody 24.3.1) then the neurons have a hard time regulating the release of dopamine.

 

SSRIs tend to increase the amount of available dopamine, other psychotropic drugs reduce the amount by also mucking around with CaM Kinase II activation.

 

The analogy I use is that its like those terrible commercials that come on 40% louder than the show you want to watch. When they come on -- too much volume. You try to adjust but then when the regular shows back on, too little. It's just hard to get it right.

 

Best regards,

 

Buster

 

Yes, I agree that much can be answered by a better understanding of CamK II. I don't really understand it at all, other than I've been told it's a clear indicator that my dd16 has Pandas (her Cunningham level was 200 in November.)

 

What is it? A protein? An antibody? What is it's function and role in our bodies? Why does a high level indicated inflamation in basal ganglia?

 

Maybe Dr. T can answer? Or Buster? Or any of your really smart folk out there who have been studying this far longer than I have.

 

A

[wornoutmom]

Buster:

 

Thanks for the wonderful tv analogy. It made me think about the "sawtooth" reaction and the idea that it could happen throughout any given day if the dopamine is disregulated (and why, in our case, everyone keeps asking us about bipolar...)