SYMPOSIA

Abstracts of the Invited Speakers
large amounts of data, the possible confounding effects of poor socioeconomic backgrounds prevent causal inferences. Even nowadays,
it is still not clear whether poor development of iron-deficient children is related to poor social backgrounds or irreversible damage due
to ID and if it is remediable with iron treatment.
Key words: Iron deficiency, children, development, psychiatric disorders
Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology 2011;21(Suppl. 2):S73-4
Antioxidant vitamin supplementation therapies in child psychiatry
Betül Mazlum
İstanbul University, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, İstanbul, Turkey
E-mail: drbakkaloglu@yahoo.com
Oxidative stress can be defined as an imbalance between pro-oxidant molecules produced by the body during metabolism and members
of the antioxidant system, in favor of the former. Antioxidant defense mechanisms include antioxidant enzyme systems and molecules
(vitamins, minerals, etc.) which have the ability to detoxify free oxygen radicals.
The brain is highly vulnerable to oxidative stress since it has limited antioxidant capacity, high energy demand and high lipid content.
Moreover, each brain region may have a genetically determined different vulnerability levels to oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress, which is included in the pathogenesis of cancer, aging, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, is also
considered for pathogenetic mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, autism
and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There are accumulating data about increased oxidative stress particularly in childhood autism
and therefore antioxidant therapies are considered as an alternative treatment option. In addition, vitamin and mineral supplementation
are recommended to compensate low intake when children with autism have feeding problems. The data about the effects of antioxidant
therapies in autism are restricted but promising. Since oxidative stress is a common finding in the pathogenesis of different disorders, it can
be suggested that individual differences, including single nucleotide polymorphisms of the genes coding for members of the antioxidant
defense system, might determine the vulnerability level to oxidative stress. Individual genetic differences might also be the determinant
of the level of benefit from antioxidant vitamin therapies. Not only the factors related to the biochemistry of leading antioxidant vitamins
(vitamin A, C and E) but also the disease and patient related differences might be acting on the response to supplementation with these
vitamins. These two groups of factors might determine the details of supplementation therapies with antioxidant vitamins in the future:
1) Factors related to the patient and the nature of the disease, i.e. the affected brain areas for a specific disorder, the vulnerability of these
brain areas to oxidative stress, accompanying diseases and possible effects of antioxidant vitamin supplementation on the pathogenesis
of these comorbid diseases; 2) Factors related to the biochemistry of the antioxidant vitamins in the body, i.e., polymorphisms of
molecules mediating intestinal absorption and blood-brain transfer of vitamins, important effects of these vitamins on specific gene
regulation and effects of vitamins on brain mechanisms.
Antioxidant vitamin supplementation is a promising alternative therapy in psychiatry, but it should be kept in mind that these vitamins
might also have undesirable results through their effects on other biological processes. This part of the panel will focus on the study
results of antioxidant vitamin supplementation therapies in child psychiatry and molecular data about the genetic and biochemical
processes of antioxidant vitamins in the body.
Key words: Antioxidant vitamins, psychiatry
Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology 2011;21(Suppl. 2):S74
Effectiveness of omega fatty acid supplementation for childhood psychiatric disorders
Sabri Hergüner
Selcuk University, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Konya, Turkey
E-mail: herguners@yahoo.com
Neuronal membranes are composed of phospholipids containing large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially the
omega-3 and omega-6 acids. Because humans cannot manufacture these de novo, they are “essential” in the diet. Membrane stability is
S74 Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol: 21, Supplement: 2, 2011 - www.psikofarmakoloji.org