Vitamin Homeostasis in the Central Nervous System

Abstract

Several groups of investigators have suggested that pharmacologic doses of certain water-soluble vitamins, including vitamins B₆, B₁₂ and C and niacin, may be useful in the treatment of schizophrenia.¹ Oral doses of 10 to a thousand times the minimum daily requirements have been advocated. Moreover, blood levels of vitamin C have been correlated with mental "alertness" or "sharpness." Dr. Linus Pauling has developed a hypothesis to rationalize the use of pharmacologic doses of vitamins in patients with mental illness and in certain normal subjects.¹ According to this hypothesis, the brain is sensitive to its molecular environment, and, . . .